GdS: Collapse and comeback – Amorim handed valuable lessons in Lazio draw

Despite an exciting comeback in the second half, AC Milan believe they dropped two crucial points against Lazio on Saturday evening, held back by their own mistakes. 

Today’s edition of Gazzetta dello Sport (see featured image) broke down the various layers of the game, from Lazio’s dominance in the first half to Milan’s electric comeback in the second half. Despite the positives, neither side is leaving the game pleased.

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As the pink newspaper puts it, we are talking about two points lost for both teams. Lazio no longer have a perfect record, even though the win was in their hands, and thus missed out on four wins to start the season (something they have never done before).

Milan, meanwhile, have drawn for the second game in a row and are already falling behind the teams are the top of the standings. Ruben Amorim’s changes made the difference again, but that also meant he got the starting eleven wrong again.

Key players in the game

Anyway, focusing on the substitutions for a second, the €50m signing Diego Moreira came in clutch with his brace in just 122 seconds (!). He didn’t do it alone, though, as the introductions of Christuan Pulisic and Yunus Musah also contributed to the comeback.

The poor players, those who failed to live up to their duties on the pitch, were Pervis Estupinan, Luka Modric, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. They left after just 45 minutes and Milan looked like a much better side after that, thanks to the aforementioned trio.

Rino Gattuso, on the other hand, relied on what he saw in training during the week and was rewarded for the decision to start Matteo Cancellieri and Tijjani Noslin up front. When he took them off, it was perhaps too early (58th minute), as Andrea Pinamonti and Gustav Isaksen were unable to counter-attack.

It was a game split down the middle, with different protagonists in each half, and the outcome was fair.

First-half collapse

As alluded to above, Milan certainly could have done a lot better in the first half, and especially on the goals scored by Lazio. Estupinan was the main culprit on both goals, failing to defend the back post, but there were others who could have done more too.

Samuel Chukwueze looked like a spectator when tracking back on the first goal, Koni De Winter could have been more decisive on Noslin, and Luka Modric was slow and inaccurate when not protected. Not to mention that Adrien Rabiot, Alphadjo Cisse, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek failed to have any meaningful impact on the ball.

Lazio took control, rather easily due to the above, and could have scored more goals before the referee blew his whistle for half-time.

Comeback provides lessons

Trailing by two goals, Amorim decided to make three changes already before the start of the second half: Pulisic, Moreira and Musah on, as mentioned, and they managed to add a completely different energy to Milan’s game.

Moreira was criticised for his display in Turin, but now he has become the savior. The switch to the left-hand side helped, but so did the faster and more vertical game, with Pulisic’s drive, Musah’s determination, and Rabiot’s improvement from the first half.

Pulisic and Rabiot provided the assists for Moreira, but the two-time goalscorer was given too much space (from Lazio’s point of view). Gattuso’s men struggled to close down the Rossoneri, which only fueled the momentum for the away side.

In any case, it was a valuable lesson for Amorim, who now should have a much clearer pitcher on what the starting eleven should look like. Not to mention that some tactical tweaks are clearly still needed too, so that’s something to work on this upcoming week.