AC Milan narrowly beat Fiorentina in Serie A on Saturday night thanks to a penalty that was both won and scored by Theo Hernandez.
The Frenchman ensured an important three points for the Rossoneri, with arguably the best moment of the night being when Francesco Camarda made his debut from the bench at the age of 15.
Both teams made a timid start to the game with Milan occasionally combining well in the final third, but little came of any attack. The sides were clearly feeling one another out in the early stages.
The first clear sight of goal came in the 23rd minute when Christian Pulisic brought the ball down excellently from height and fired a half-volley in Pietro Terracciano’s direction, but the goalkeeper was able to parry it away for a corner.
There were half-hearted appeals for a Milan penalty when Samuel Chukwueze went down in the box under Nikola Milenkovic’s challenge. He quickly got to his feet but Milan then had a great opening down the right with Davide Calabria but the defender either miscued his cross or went for a shot from a very tight angle.
Fiorentina were limited to the occasional pot-shot from the edge of the box which Mike Maignan had little trouble dealing with.
Milan’s best moments seemed to come down the right wing, with Chukwueze getting into the box late in the first half but his cross was cut out well. That was followed by a Calabria cross being deflected towards goal but Terracciano reacted well. Milan were building a head of steam before the break and it resulted in a penalty for Milan.
Theo Hernandez raced into the box and Fabiano Parisi bundled him over in desperation. It was a clear penalty and a yellow card for Parisi. Hernandez quickly grabbed the ball and hit a powerful penalty into the bottom-left corner, grabbing his second goal of the season and making sure Milan were 1-0 up at the break.
The second half was a much more open affair than the first, with both sides showing more attacking intent. Milan had the better of the possession but Fiorentina certainly still carried a threat going forward.
Fiorentina were beginning to get close to an equaliser. Nico Gonzalez was a constant issue for Milan and with Tomori on a yellow card, he could not deal with the Argentine as effectively as he might like. La Viola were getting into the box fairly easily in the middle of the second half.
They wanted a penalty after a frantic episode in the box that ended with Riccardo Sottil’s shot hitting Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s arm. It was from incredibly close range and there was a VAR check. It was a nervy wait for Milan but nothing came of it.
They then had a perfect chance to wrap up the game as Hernandez slipped the ball through to Luka Jovic who made a superb run, but his shot from close range was saved by Terracciano. It was a wonderful chance for the Serbian to get his first goal for Milan.
Late in the game, there was a special moment as the 15-year-old Francesco Camarda was brought on for his first senior Milan appearance. He was given a particularly loud announcement and was clearly moved when the San Siro crowd shouted his name. He came on in the 84th minute, meaning there was little time to make an impact. He became the youngest player to make their debut in Serie A ever
Danger remained right until the end for Milan as Maxime Lopez hit a superb shot just wide of the target as the 90th minute approached. Maignan produced a world-class save from Rolando Mandragora in the dying seconds, smothering the ball from a yard out.
The win keeps Milan in third place above Napoli, with Inter and Juventus set to play each other on Sunday night.
So basically, Mike saved Pioli’s job? It was like Florentina was playing Genoa. Just horrendous.
Sometimes its not just about quality but fighting for one another and thats what they did tonight, no complaints about the way we played, its all about the 3 points
Pretty much sums up our season so far. Imagine if Fiorentina started the game with Nzola instead of Beltran, we were outplayed by them in the second. I will never understand how we are giving so much space to opponents to create chances. Well 3 points in 3 points though.
Chukwueze, jovic are biggest flop we have this season with no impact at all
Chuck played for the team and did well, how he can be called a flop is hard for me to fathom, he worked extremely well with Calabria and they provided the centre backs with cover consistently throughout the game.
Jovic was starved of service, but i loved his reaction when he was substituted and he really congratulated and encouraged Carmada, which shows he is about the team
Nah, did you see his first touches in the second half? Remember, he is getting paid the same as Puli, Tomori. RLC and Theo. We also paid 28M for him.
He mat have been underwhelming at times this season, but he myst be given time to settle, injuries and Pulisic’s form have impeded him, but have faith he did show some good signs today, getting to the bi-line and cutting back, but he needs time, so let’s hope he comes good
It’s not that I like Jovic because I don’t, but he made the assists for Theo’s penalty even it’s not counted as a one and also had one or two more good actions in attack but unfortunately ended up without a goal.
I’m a Nigerian and also from the same tribe with chukwueze but to be honest with you, he hasn’t played a decent game since his signing. No complete dribble or crossing, if he continue like this he won’t go far but I wish him well. I just pray he find his feet.
Malik you should be the manager you’re very nice with no idea
Jovic provided the key “assist” to Hernandez with his perfect through ball that forced the penalty.
He was more involved, with some give and go passes, and he did his share of high pressing.
He should have scored on that great through ball against the offside trap, but the GK did have to make a great save with his leg. Had he chipped or lifted the ball, it would have gone in
So he wasn’t completely useless.
Jovic touched the ball 5 times during the first half. Yeah. Awesome. Let’s bench Giroud for him.
“He should have scored on that great through ball against the offside trap, but the GK did have to make a great save with his leg.”
Great save? Not really – just a poor, poor effort by Jovic.
Chuk, Jovic, Romero, and Pellegrino are flops.
We didn’t deserve to win this game. Just a lucky bus. Pioli is out of ideas. This is not how AC Milan should play.
I swear, we are just defending this second half with zero attack. Pioli need to be sack, he’s out of ideas
We were extremely lucky today, but, well, sometimes Fortuna ought to be on our side. Having said that, we need to resolve the injury situation as soon as possible or else we are in big trouble. And, lads, I swear I have never seen a football player that looks so clueless and amateurish as Jovic. He seems like a Seria C-level player 🙂
It’s not Fortuna. It’s Pioli. He loses games when we deserve to win and wins when we should lose.
I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH WEAK MENTALITY TEAM IN MY WHOLE LIFE. WHEN THEY GET THE BALL, THEY ARE DESPARATELY KICKING IT AWAY LOL!!! WE USED TO DO THAT AT SCHOOL FFS. MAIGNAN SHOULD GO TO BETTER TEAM. HE DESERVES TEAMMATES WITH A DIGNITY. FLORENZI HAS ONE SKILL – KICK THE BALL AWAY! THAT IS IT??? AND HE IS PLAYING FOR AC MILAN? HE IS NOT ON SERIE A LEVEL, JOVIC IS NOT A PRO PLAYER. WHAT KIND OF SQUAD WE HAVE?
Wow what a shameful display and I don’t think it had anything to with the players. Two weeks to figure things out and that’s the performance. I don’t know what to say anymore. I’m worried for this team!
Chuck… oh my eyes
Horrendous display but that wasn’t unexpected.
Fiorentia are top class as midfield set up. Defence can be a problem and they can’t finish. They were always going to play this Milan off the park and not score enough to win.
I cannot help but think there is a self filling element to Jovic’s failure (and it’s something I’ve seen before).
He had the chance of the match, a tap in, but Calabria burnt him. Surely he could then have been given the penalty.
By the time he gets another chance he seizes up and misses.
As I always say when it comes to Jovic, I don’t rate him. But we need him this season and we’re not doing him any favours.
I’m trying not to be negative bc we got 3 points but wow….
This is the worst I’ve seen Milan play in recent times. The lack of a proper head coach is glaringly evident on the field. Pioli has been thoroughly studied by all Serie A managers, and it appears he doesn’t have anything new to offer. This style of play is embarrassing for any Milan supporter.
Chukwueze and Jovic : They both seem completely confused on the pitch, and Jovic appears happy to be anonymous.
On Pobega : It seems like he has made a pact with the defenders that, regardless of his position on the field, he will consistently pass the ball back to them.
…and that algorithm doesn’t work because our we spent a lot of money in Chukwueze, even though not as much as was spent on CDK, and he is a seriously average player. He’s not even quick.
Still the bashing irrespective of the win wonderful.I can imagine if we had lost this game this blog will be on fire although the display was not convincing will just put it as a result of injuries for now. Let see what we have to offer on Tuesday that’s the main bone of contention if we can play this rubbish and win on Tuesday against dortmund I don’t mind as long as we win the game. The ball is in our court well I trust poili he always give a way to buy time for the inevitable sack he will quench the fire but for how long
It was a horrible game to watch especially the second half. But I’ll take 3 points over a good performance with a draw.
It was a pretty frantic match but we could also have scored several more goals and fiorentina could have gotten a few as well and there deffently also were some worrying minutes especially towards the end but we won and we play with a fairly dismantled team/bench and won and got to see camarda getting his debut. I’ll take it.
Hard to watch but we won so I’ll take it, but I did not care for the attacking tactics. Reijnders playing so deep was a mistake when Musah could have filled that role. Also did not like having Pulisic going central and deep to receive the ball, Reijnders could have done that. I get having Pulisic go central to allow Theo more room on the wing but that left Pulisic Jovic or Chuk to play off of and those two haven’t worked out yet, perhaps when Giroud is back that thinking could work while Leao is out. Hopefully our guys that are fit stay fit for Tuesday against BVB.
Congratulations Pioli you another day but what about Dortmund game you will have to pull a rabbit from your hat
It’s only a matter of time