Following the defeat to Napoli in Serie A, AC Milan’s hopes of a top-four finish decreased dramatically, so the focus shifted to the Coppa Italia and, in turn, the Europa League.
Despite Milan’s poor form over the season, they have actually managed to play really well against their city rivals. However, the Rossoneri’s general form is at an all-time low for this season, whilst Inter have picked up the pace as of late, so the game was never going to be easy.
The first half was fairly even, with Inter having more of the ball and Milan trying to make something happen on the counter, but the Diavolo didn’t really threaten their opponents all that much.
In the second half, however, Sergio Conceicao’s side came out sharper than their city rivals and scored the opener just two minutes into the half through Tammy Abraham, after a lovely dummy and finish by the Englishman.
Milan then defended well enough, but in the 67th minute, Calhanoglu managed to score from outside of the box after the Rossoneri fell asleep – nobody marked the Turk, allowing him to take his time and place his shot in the bottom corner.
Following the equaliser, Inter tried to push a little, but ultimately that led to nothing with the Diavolo having a couple of chances of their own, but in the end it was all square and the finalist will be decided in the reverse fixture.
Here are five things we learned from the game:
1. Milan can still play football
The Rossoneri have been dreadful to watch recently, but there are moments where they hint at what they are capable of and against Inter, it was one of those nights.
It helped that a lot of players who have been struggling as of late actually turned up – Mike Maignan, Tijjani Reijnders and Youssouf Fofana really stepped up and helped their side be more compact in the defensive phase with the keeper making crucial saves.
Then, up front, Abraham didn’t squander any chances this time around and made several good runs before his goal, too.
Leao was also up for the challenge, although he had to deal with two or three players marking him, so he wasn’t as efficient. Nevertheless, the fact that he occupied so many players meant Milan had space elsewhere to attack.
The mistakes at the back were also limited, and even though Jimenez and Pulisic did not really contribute, they didn’t prevent the Rossoneri from getting a positive result.
The same attitude is needed for the reverse fixture, and it’s not really far-fetched to see the Rossoneri reaching the final. It would end up being a very confusing season if Milan were to lift 2 trophies, all whilst struggling so much in Serie A and the Champions League.
2. Abraham should continue from the start
The Englishman got his chance with Santiago Gimenez struggling to contribute, and he took it well enough with a lovely taken goal and good overall performance prior to the goal itself, which should really earn him at least a couple more starts.
He now has four goals and an assist in 3 games in the Coppa Italia, as he seems to be the Rossoneri’s talisman in the competition this year, and Conceicao will hope that continues.
This brings up the question as to whether or not the management should consider buying him in the summer, as he is currently on loan, and whilst he has had some poor performances, he pretty much has shown he can be a fairly reliable back-up or even starter.
So, considering all of this, the decision to bring him permanently seems logical, especially if the price is right.
3. Duo impress
Reijnders has been one of Milan’s best players this season, but he too has had a dip in form as of late. Against Inter, though, he was set to make it right, and he did with a nice performance.
On top of his passing, he was a constant threat for Inter as his movements were dangerous and his dribbling allowed him to find spaces to shoot from distance, which did cause trouble for the Nerazzurri. It’s a real pleasure to watch the Dutchman when he’s on his game.
His partner did not disappoint either, as he finally had a good game after months of struggles. Fofana recovered a lot of balls on the night, using his physicality pretty well in most cases, and his passing wasn’t too bad either. He kept it simple, and it worked wonders for most of the game, and this was arguably his best performance, at least in the past 3 or 4 months.
4. The defence did well
Nothing spectacular, but the 4 defenders at the back did enough to contain Inter for the majority of the game with none of them making any serious mistakes.
Gabbia in particular was very solid at the back as he won a lot of duels and kept it composed throughout the game, but the rest of the backline also did well defensively and they were unlucky not to get the clean sheet, especially Maignan, who made a few crucial saves and was the Man of the Match in our post-game ratings.
5. Pulisic and Jimenez disappoint
The two weren’t particularly bad, but at the end of the day, they didn’t produce anything worth mentioning in attack, which was their main job. Pulisic moved well between the lines, but the fact that he usually doesn’t play in the position was obvious as he struggled to be as efficient as he usually is.
He arguably was at fault for the second goal too, as he should’ve been somewhere around the Turkish midfielder, but instead he dropped too deep and Calhanoglu was left all alone, which in the end was a communication mistake, but Puli should’ve done better.
Jimenez also wasn’t great at the back with a few sloppy fouls, one of which was in a dangerous position, and he didn’t track as much as he should’ve, or at least that was the feeling.
ACM played terrible football. There was no offensive structure to the attack. Overlaps with Theo and Leão was it. Jimenez was basically a 5th defender so the team was unbalanced on the right side so there was no real attempt to attack from that side. This was ugly football.
Milan players have a lot of energy vs Inter this season, due to the anger of what happened last season. It is a psychological effect.
Milan remain a midtable team, and to return to the top, they need a coach who has experience at the top, i.e. Conte. Keeping Sergio or taking someone who is not proven in high levels, e.g. de Zerbi, could repeat this season’s failures. The summer decisions will either make or break it for Milan.
Yes, they played with anger but easily could have loss 2-1. Inter had better chances. ACM was set up to defend- minimize defensive errors at the cost of any real offense. That’s how a little team plays, not an important team
I forgot to add: Big teams force other teams to adapt to them.
I don’t think that Sergio’s strategy overall was bad. Milan’s defenders are well-known for making blunders, so one can’t blame him for playing more defensive in important games.
The coach who made the bad decisions was Inzaghi, who did too much rotation. Having in the same lineup Correa, Frattesi and Darmian is not a recipe for victory. I am curious to see what will he decide for the second leg.
I think Inzaghi played it perfectly. I suspect Inter is more interested in winning the scudetto. They have a game on Saturday so they have rested players and made it a one game series. ACM is all in on these games cause that’s all they have .
Yes, the Scudetto is more important. Plus Inzaghi wants the team to go as far as possible in the UCL and then the Club World Cup, as those competitions provide more money for transfers in the summer, boost the brand and give prestige. Personally I would choose reaching the UCL’s semi-finals over winning the Coppa Italia.
However, rotation has always been Inzaghi’s weakest point. He often decides to do massive rotation, which in some cases hurts the balance on the pitch. Last season he continued to keep Frattesi and Asllani on the bench even when we were zillions of points ahead of the second place. That damaged those two young players a lot.
Who are these mofos?
The comments regarding Abraham make me laugh. In the previous 5 Things piece Abraham was slighted and it was suggested that Jovic should play more. That didn’t happen obviously and Abraham scored and now Abraham should be starting.
It’s the very definition of recency bias in action. Gimenez should be starting. Strikers need continuity and play time. Otherwise why on earth was all that money spent on Gimenez?
I think he didn’t want to risk him, as he came with an injury from international break
Gimenez isn’t good enough. He’s gone scoreless since Feb 18 and you want the team to continue riding with him to oblivion. That’s not how it works in a serious team. Only those who can help the team win should be starting.
And speaking of recency bias, Abraham has made an impact every time he’s come on. Gimenez hasn’t done anything since he’s been coming off the bench. Abraham also has a track record in Italy. Gimenez is a new comer. At the end of the day, Abraham is better suited to lead the line.
Abraham was invisible against Napoli. He’s missed sitters. Again, regency bias.
I think…. tammy if he starts he needs to be all gun_ho….. and Jimenez ready to come in.. u til Jimenez scores or is clearly much stronger than tammy then this is the line up right now… ultimately i think Jimenez has much higher ceiling… but he need to calm down
Jim seems u dont understand football… Jiminez was like a defender cause Walker was suppose to tuck in an act as a 3rd defender , cause Sergio wanted Theo to attack more on the opposite flank
Thanks for repeating what I said. ACM was not set-up for any attack on the right. ACM played with a backline of five. So I perfectly understand football.
I’ll also add that for anyone who knows football knows that Kyle Walker is terrible going forward. So pulling your right midfielder back to cover the outside back leaves the right side devoid of any attacking options. I’ve have not viewed Walker as a good starting outside back option at this point in his career if you have to provide cover for him as he offers nothing going forward.
Nedley why start Gimenez when uts clear that he lacks confidence…. He should be a sub, he needs to let his hunger overcome his lack of confidence… Leao is an example of what im saying
Gimenez and Tammy is two different striker… Jovic has the characteristics of both players ( a little)… Tammy likes to drop deep and helps , Gimenez is a killer in the box whose lost his confidence! I like Tammy better cause he links up well with Puli and Leao ! I think we should keep Tammy and offload Jovic …. Tammy, Gimenez and Camarda will be enough next season! 3 different characteristics…
1. Abraham should be our main striker for the remaining of the season instead of Giménez.
2. Neither Reijnders nor Pulišić are attacking midfielders. Reijnders played better yesterday because he wasn’t an attacking midfielder and Pulišić was worse because he was an attacking midfielder.
3. Since we don’t have ANY attacking midfielder, we should look for a setup that doesn’t require any, where Reijnders can play as a central midfielder (his best position) and Pulišić can remain on the wings (perhaps a 3-4-3 ?)
4. MAIGNAN did well, not the defence. If he was in an off day like during most of the season, we might be looking at a 2 goals deficit by now.
5. Don’t get overly excited, there is still a second leg and inter didn’t field their best players.
Pulisic played worse because there was no ability to attack on the right side- Walker is terrible going forward and Jimenez was often helping out Walker as part of a back 5. Milan plays with only half the field. I’ve noticed that Pulisic has not signed his extension and hope he takes a look at this team at the end of the year before deciding what to do
Even do their field their best player they can’t beat us. don’t u watch the super cup and first leg in the league