AC Milan’s winning run in Serie A was ended on Sunday night as they lost 2-1 against Fiorentina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in a dramatic encounter.
Fiorentina missed the chance to take the lead from the penalty spot as Mike Maignan saved Moise Kean’s spot kick, but then they did get the opener through the Milan loanee Yacine Adli in the first half.
The Rossoneri missed two penalties before drawing level, with David De Gea saving from Theo Hernandez and Tammy Abraham, then Christian Pulisic’s volley made it 1-1. However, Albert Gudmundsson would strike after to win all three points for La Viola.
It is a damaging result for Milan before the international break, and to make matters worse Theo – who gave away a penalty and missed one – was sent off at full-time for protesting to the referee.
Paulo Fonseca chose to make just one change to the starting line-up from the team that lost to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, with Alvaro Morata coming back in after fully recovering from injury to replace Ruben Loftus-Cheek who picked up a physical issue.
It took less than eight minutes for the referee to dish out the first yellow card and it went to Fiorentina right-back Dodo after Rafael Leao took the ball off him on the touchline and surged towards goal but was pulled to the ground.
The resulting free-kick was whipped into a very dangerous area by Christian Pulisic and Matteo Gabbia got his head on it around six yards out but couldn’t repeat his derby-winning goal as he sent the effort over the bar.
Fifteen minutes into the game Morata had a great chance to give Milan the lead when he got his head onto a teasing cross from Emerson Royal on the right, yet he glanced it just wide of the far post with the goalkeeper rooted. At the other end 60 seconds later, Colpani cut inside and lashed a shot over.
There was a controversial incident in the 20th minute as Dodo went down after he and Theo Hernandez went for a loose ball right on the edge of the box. The referee did not award a spot kick but the VAR chief called him over for another look and it was given, but Kean saw his attempt from 12 yards saved by Mike Maignan, which was probably justice after a very soft call.
Kean was again denied and this time by the offside flag when he got in the way of a volley from the edge of the box before burying a loose ball between Maignan’s legs. Moments later, Leao fired a fierce rising shot from around 20 yards out that fizzed over the bar after via the fingertip of De Gea.
Ten minutes before the break, the home side did take the lead and in rather typical fashion it was Adli who got the goal against his parent club. The Viola attack all started from a foul throw by Milan, and ended when the on-loan midfielder spun Pulisic and curled a low effort from the left corner of the box in off the far post to make it 1-0.
Milan had a golden chance to get themselves level right at the end of the first half when they were given a penalty of their own. A lovely passing move down the right side saw Pulisic put Tijjani Reijnders through on goal as he was falling down, and Ranieri brought the Dutchman down. Theo Hernandez took the responsibility on his birthday, yet De Gea tipped it around the post.
Kean had the ball in the back of the net in the opening minutes of the second half having run in behind with acres of space available, yet the reason he was all alone is because he had strayed offside.
In the 54th minute Milan were given another big opportunity to get back on level terms as Matteo Gabbia went down inside the box having been kicked by Kean. Replays struggled to find enough to overturn it, yet De Gea would be the thorn in the Rossoneri’s side again as he produced an excellent stop to deny Tammy Abraham’s penalty.
Just before the hour mark, Milan finally did draw level and it was thanks to a bit of genius from Pulisic. A cross all the way to the far side of the box found the run of the American who somehow managed to redirect it inside the far post with an outstanding volley.
The game opened up from there and the two sides began trading chances. Kean shot narrowly over after a cross into the box, and at the other end Ranieri made a fantastic last-ditch challenge to deny Pulisic a second goal after a fantastic run from Leao.
The first change came from Fonseca with 18 minutes as Noah Okafor replaced Leao, and moments after that the home side retook the lead. It didn’t require anything particularly fancy either: a long ball was totally missed by Fikayo Tomori and fell to Gudmundsson who lashed a low attempt past Maignan’s dive.
A second change was made inside the final 10 minutes with Pulisic making way for Samuel Chukwueze. The Nigerian winger almost made an instant impact after cutting in onto his left foot and hitting one, though De Gea reacted well after a slight deflection to tip it away.
A big chance fell to Abraham in added time after great work by Okafor on the left, yet the striker couldn’t sort his feet out in time to do anything other than stab a weak effort towards De Gea from deep inside the box.
The final big chance fell to Kean who was inches away from adding some gloss to the scoreline with a thumping attempt that hit the underside of the bar and bounced to safety.
Just a reminder,we let go of yacine to keep yunus musah whose only talent is running with the ball at his feet
Only 2 subs and the first one was in 70th ish. So clear that this team lack of depth. And that’s after only God knows how many turn overs.
Again and again I said Theo and Leao was never a captain material. Fonseca’s idea of rotating the captain is like a novelty at first, but the truth is we simply lack of a leader figure.
I think the team is depth but the coach has no plan B. Btw, tomori again error defence that shouldnt happen with player Milan level. If Milan play long ball to penalty box, the coach should change tomori to pavlovic and Calabria for Emerson. He looks tired.
A banter era but with clean accounts. Another evening wasted.
Jovic is the problem, Zlatan, Fonseca and Abraham are solution.
I like how we’ve only been successful so far with 2 strikers up top, yet he’s refusing to use Jovic at all. The guy was most effective coming off the bench last year and scoring clutch late goals. Yet the clown in the dugout is as stubborn as the last
Jovic was injured in training and so not on the bench today. And not on UCL list so could not be used mid week.
aaaaa and what about 7 games before he got injured? abraham is nothing but deal betwen agents, zlatan n fonseca.shame on them.he is the worst striker milan had in decades and this is the results.
I once watched David de gea not save a single penalty in a shootout think he had 16 that night. He’s renowned for being sh!t at saving penalties. Typically saved 2 against us. And when are we going to stop being so arrogant and start inserting clauses in our loans for players on loan not being to play against us. Maldini and Adli…it’s the Milan way. If we can do anything we possibly can to make our lives harder then let’s do it.
This was the epitome of Fonseca so far, no shock its a player he got rid of that makes him look foolish. Yet people want to praise him after 1 derby win…
Tomori is so bad. He runs like a headless chicken. Our defense is a joke. Emerson, Gabbia and Tomori.
This team is lacking in every angle.i can’t blame the coach alone, what does moncada scout in fofana, Emerson he should quit
Cost to the value. It’s not a thing of formation. The guys played well. Just unlucky and a few individual mistakes. Just because you buy a player 50M doesn’t mean he will perform. Man U spent how much this season and what is their position.
I rarely complain about referees but this guy today was terrible
How is Emerson a football player he can’t even do the basics. Also this formation doesn’t work either switch 3-4-3 or 4-3-3. Our football is more boring than under Pioli!
Milan just needs to let Pulisic take ALL the penalties.
He’s the designated penalty taker for the USMNT, and has been for quite a while now. Believe me, he’s really good at them, in these pressure situations, especially when playing Mexico in front of all those screaming fans.
None of the other guys taking penalties today have that role with their national teams. Tammy isn’t even in the England national team picture anymore.
Pulisic is too demure to demand the ball, but he’s the leading scorer on Milan now, and is just hot as hell with his scoring streak.
Nobody else on the team can even come close to hitting a goal.
Fonseca blew a sure win here by not giving all the pens to Pulisic.
Isn’t it funny watching Morata drop back to demand the ball? Why are these players hiding behind their opponents? For goodness sake go and demand the ball! Where the hell is all that brilliant one-touch quick football we saw in preseason? What exactly is our style of play? Also, who else had the feeling Adli would score? It’s like a trend now. Lastly, who’s that fan that suggested we sign de Gea? How did our algorithm miss that signing? Leao? I don’t know what to say. Theo? Your birthday doesn’t necessarily have to be about you. If you had put the team first then Puli probably would have played the penalty. Abraham needs more composure in the box. Morata is great but I’m afraid this team isn’t playing to his strength. 25m for a Fofana in the last year of his contract doesn’t look like good business to me with what I saw today. Tomori shouldn’t be untouchable. Emerson needs to free his mind and stop playing with so much pressure to impress. Overall I just don’t like the way we play. Did Fonsy change his style from what we saw in preseason or the players aren’t just doing what he asked? Anyway, we move on to the next one.
At least the (awful) referee gave Theo the perfect birthday present. A 3-4 day vacation.
He already got his presence when his second foul at the box wasn’t awarded with a penalty. Tbh it’s a more clear foul than the first accident.
“Emerson needs to free his mind and stop playing with so much pressure to impress. ”
No. Emerson needs to stop playing. At all. Retire. That’s the only way he could benefit the team.
Both those penalties should have been taken by Pulisic
Ive never seen a team disrespect a player like this.
The Team Backstabbed pulisic.
Talking about how important he is, and then everyone steps all over him.
CP is captain
CP penalties and free kicks
Y’all should stop lamenting about missed penalties. Was Puli ahead of Theo during Pioli’s era? Giroud was the kicker and in his absence was Theo.
So… Anyone surprised by playing with only 10 men and wasting all the penalties with incompetent shooters will result in losing to Viola? De Gea was already lying in the corner where they both kicked the ball. Fng amateurs.
And that Emerson Fng Royale… I’m tired of beating my head against the wall here. We paid 15-17M€ FOR THAT GUY AND GOT RID OF KALULU (& ADLI)???? FFS, Moncada, hand in your resignation already!!!!!!!
Abraham will score zero goals and
Tomori will cost us at least 10 in the ass this season. Can’t really blame the coach this time as is really couldn’t be put on him thst the players play like the horror…
For all his hard work Abraham has finishing on par with leao..
Ddg tho. On hiatus for a year, comes back and plays like a champ. He gets 1.2M net btw.
Fonseca was horrible. Tomori was horrible. Leao was horrible, and Abraham was horrible.
433 is best formation for this team. Center back pairing should be Pavlovic and Gabbia. Pulisic hasn’t missed a penalty but Theo and Abraham took the penalties? Unbelievable!
Abraham, is should be the first player substituted today. He contributes nothing and even his physicality is a waste.
FONCESA cost us the points today.
You won’t see. CONTE players with the attitude displayed today by the Milan team.
Unfortunately, for Milan 4th or 5th place is an achievement for a mediocre coach like Fonseca an the crab management.
Only Zlatan have value in that management team and unfortunately, he is still a novice.
The penalty criticism is over the top.
Just credit their keeper for to brilliant stops.
Both shots were quite wide and low.
Decent power without being thumping shots.
And he got there one handed.
Also on opposite sides.
Two of the best stops I’ve seen recently.
And to do it on the same game.
Please and please
Sell milan with write owner
Not for this mediocre owner
De gea has like a 10ft reach. diving low to the post is all he can do. literally the worst spot to shoot actually.
Losing to Fiorentina is very bad. It’s not a bad game so much as the mistakes of individual players.
Adli scored a goal. Wow. How many did he give us? He got lucky and now you are crying for him, and you all couldn’t wait to get rid of him because he is slow.
And stop Kalulu more, because he is not a RB but a CB. He didn’t excel like RB here either. Motta also tried him as a RB and gave up. My people, you have no idea, but that’s why you like to write comments.
Did u guys enjoy the game?