Sampdoria 1-4 AC Milan Women: Rossonere win resoundingly in Coppa first leg

The AC Milan Women pulled off a resounding victory against Sampdoria last Sunday, as they pulled off a 4-1 victory. With the win, the Rossonere have an advantage in their two-legged affair in the Coppa Italia.

It is certainly a commanding position to be in for Ganz’s side heading into the second leg. Here’s a recap of how it happened…

The line-ups

Sampdoria (4-3-3): Soggiu; Rizza (72′ Bursi), Pisani, Spinelli, Boglioni (62′ Wagner); Fallico, Giordano, Rincón (72′ Seghir); Helmwall, Martinovic (81′ Bargi), Battelani (46′ Martínez)

AC Milan (3-4-3): Babb; Codina, Agard, Fusetti; Guagni (64′ Longo), Adami (71′ Jane), Grimshaw, Thrige; Thomas, Piemonte (77′ Stapelfeldt), Bergamaschi

The match

The match started with a pregame surprise, as Laura Giuliani was taken out of the starting lineup. Instead, it was Selena Babb that took her place, as Giuliani was pulled due to a muscle injury that happened during the team’s warmups. Sara Thrige also replaced Linda Tucceri Cimini in the starting XI, though this was due to a tactical choice and not an injury.

Starting the Danish player would prove to be an excellent idea. Thrige delivered Milan’s opening salvo by launching a precise corner kick that found the top of Guagni’s head. The Italy international scored her second goal for the team and in just under six minutes, Milan were ahead. Laura Fusetti would then accidentally ‘trip’ Veronica Battelani inside the box and Samp were thus awarded a penalty kick. The hosts would then equalize as Yoreli Rincón pounced off Babb’s rebound and slotted it home.

The Rossonere would not take this lying down and created a slew of chances for themselves. Valentina Bergamaschi came close to extending the team’s lead but her shot struck the crossbar n the 29th minute.

The team then restored their lead four minutes later through Piemonte, who latched onto Thrige’s ball to net her second goal in three games. The final chance of the half fell to Sampdoria, as Melania Martinovic forced Babb into making a fantastic reaction save to maintain Milan’s lead.

The Rossonere then emerged from the halftime interval full of energy and continued to dominate the match. Captain Bergamaschi then forced the Blucerchiate’s Soggiu into a save in the 48th minute.

As the clock struck the hour mark, Emelie Helmwall brought down Bergamaschi in the box, and Milan were awarded a penalty. Lindsey Thomas stepped up to take the spot-kick and she did not miss. The penalty was also her fifth goal in five matches in January.

The Rossonere were not content to sit on their laurels and they pushed ahead for another goal. It came during the dying minutes of the game, as Christy Grimshaw netted a much-deserved fourth goal for the Rossonere (’92).

The stats

Not surprisingly, Milan dominated the proceedings. They had the ball 56.7% of the time and 23 shots in total. Nine of those shots were in the penalty area and four of those became goals.

Sara Thrige also had three assists during this game and was the undisputed, standout player of this match.

🏆🇮🇹
COPPA ITALIA @SOCIOS ⚽️

🔴⚫ Il @acmilan domina la @sampdoria! #SampMilan 1️⃣-4️⃣

⚽️ 5' @AliaGuagni
⚽️ 12' @10yorelirincon (rig.)
⚽️ 33' @piemontem18
⚽️ 61' @Lindsey_T19 (rig.)
⚽️ 92' @christygrimshaw #CoppaItaliaFemminile pic.twitter.com/dgw2cxJJZ6

— FIGC Calcio Femminile (@FIGCfemminile) January 30, 2022