Atalanta 5-0 AC Milan: Pioli’s men completely trashed by dominant home side

By Isak Möller -

AC Milan were completely trashed by Atalanta in the final game before the Christmas break, conceding a whopping five goals away at Atalanta this afternoon. In other words, they didn’t end on a strong note. 

As you would expect, Atalanta took control of the game straight away by playing with a very high-line, constantly winning the ball back whenever they lost it. In the first five minutes, Milan barely saw anything of the ball.

Donnarumma was forced into action within the first minute as Ilicic fired a surprising shot with his right foot. Despite it being his weaker foot, he managed to stretch the goalkeeper. Certainly, the Rossoneri struggled a lot at the start.

Things got worse as Papu Gomez gave his side the lead after just ten minutes of play. The Argentine got past Conti way to easily, nutmegging the defender, before firing a great shot into the top right corner.

In the 15th minute, Pasalic nearly doubled the lead as he hit the bar with a shot on the edge of the box. Kessie, Conti and Musacchio failed to stop Gomez and Gosens on the right flank and this created many issues for the Rossoneri.

Milan got their first chances after 25 minutes, as Calhanoglu played a nice through-ball to Suso. However, the latter was beaten to it by the goalkeeper, as the margins weren’t on their side in the first half.

Towards the end of the first 45, Pioli’s side somewhat managed to calm things down, but still failed to create any dangerous chances up front. Certainly, Atalanta’s defence was far from perfect but Milan just couldn’t make the best of the situation.

Ahead of the second half, Pioli decided to bring in Calabria to replace Rodriguez on the left, which was a strange decision as the latter wasn’t terrible by any means. Furthermore, Calabria’s preferred position is on the right.

The game looked a bit more balanced at the start of the last 45, as Atalanta didn’t play with the same tempo, although still controlling the game comfortably. However, the game was about to turn into a nightmare for Milan.

After 60 minutes, Pasalic doubled the lead as he managed to get a crucial touch on Gosens’ shot/cross. The Milan players were calling for offside, but the replays showed that both Calabria and Musacchio failed with the offside trap.

Pioli brought on Piatek in place of Bonaventura straight after, but it didn’t result in anything special for the Rossoneri. Instead, three minutes after the second goal, Ilicic added a third. The Slovenian dribbled past Calabria before firing a powerful right-footed strike.

In the 72nd minute, Ilicic grabbed his second of the game with a lovely curling effort, which Donnarumma could do nothing about. In short, the Rossoneri were completely trashed by the home side.

However, it didn’t end there for the Rossoneri. With just seven minutes left of the 90 to go, Muriel scored a fifth for Atalanta as he beat Donnarumma to the ball, thus having an empty goal to aim at.

Despite chances, the home side’s tally stayed at five goals. As for Milan, they were humiliated in a game where three important points were at stake. Pioli and the players a lot to work on, that’s for sure.

Tags AC Milan Atalanta
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