“We reactivated ourselves. Unfortunately the break for international duty had seen us lose our way, but tonight we saw the Juventus side that was concentrated, united and knew what had to be done,” insisted the Coach Mr. Ranieri.
Vincenzo Iaquinta replied to Clarence Seedorf's opener as a 1-1 draw leaves Milan seven points adrift of Inter. This means next week a victory over Siena will crown the Nerazzurri champions. This was practically a play-off for second place and the two sides could not be on more different form.
The Rossoneri had won seven out of eight games, while Juve were without a victory in 50 days and conceded 11 goals in their last five Serie A games. The Bianconeri were unbeaten at San Siro since a 3-1 result on October 29 2005, but had Pavel Nedved and Olof Mellberg suspended along with the injured Momo Sissoko, Christian Molinaro, Hasan Salihamidzic, Albin Ekdal, Dario Knezevic, Claudio Marchisio and Zdenek Grygera. Captain Alessandro Del Piero was sensationally dropped in favour of Amauri and Vincenzo Iaquinta for what would've been his 600th game for the club.
Milan welcomed Gennaro Gattuso back to the bench a full month ahead of schedule following knee ligament surgery in December. Marco Borriello, Alessandro Nesta, Kakha Kaladze, Christian Abbiati and Luca Antonini were still sidelined, while David Beckham struggled with an ankle problem, but Nelson Dida did not recover in time. Beckham was the first player booked after three minutes for a late sliding tackle on Marco Marchionni. Juve had the first chance with Iaquinta knocking down a cross for Mauro Camoranesi to volley over from eight yards.
Kaka threaded through for Pippo Inzaghi, but Gigi Buffon rushed off his line to smother. Juve threatened again as Marchionni was sent clear on goal, but Mathieu Flamini came flying in with a decisive tackle. Moments later Iaquinta went on a run from midfield, but again Flamini helped Paolo Maldini dispossess him when lining up the shot from eight yards. Inzaghi bundled his way past Giorgio Chiellini to volley Clarence Seedorf's chipped pass over the bar.
Iaquinta wanted a penalty, but he seemed to be tussling 50-50 with Flamini. Kaka slalomed his way through a series of players to go one-on-one with Buffon, who used his feet to clear. Iaquinta's volley tested Kalac and Buffon risked fumbling a Kaka snapshot. Inzaghi could not get his foot to the end of a Kaka cross as he tried to acrobatically hit the volley. Christian Poulsen was allowed to cut in through the middle undisturbed as the strikers drew the centre-backs away, but his low drive was off target. Inzaghi's volley flashed across the face of goal from a very tight angle as he got on the end of Andrea Pirlo's pass. After the restart Inzaghi nodded a Beckham corner wide from six yards. Juve went even closer as Iaquinta sprung the offside trap and his shot cannoned off Kalac's chest, but Flamini anticipated Amauri to the loose ball. Another Cristiano Zanetti long ball released Iaquinta and this time Kalac came flying out to hoof it clear. Seedorf went on a counter only to balloon well over from the edge of the box, earning jeers from the San Siro crowd.
Milan broke the deadlock with a classic counter-attack. Iaquinta's free kick in the final third was charged down and a counter was sparked sending Inzaghi clear from his own half - so the offside trap did not apply. He cut back for Ambrosini's scuffed shot which turned into an assist for Seedorf to tap in from a yard. Iaquinta equalised a few minutes later with a diving header at the back post from Camoranesi's sweeping cross. He held off Flamini with great strength to beat Kalac from nine yards. Flamini blasted wide from distance and Poulsen was booked for blatantly hauling back Kaka on another counter. There was tension between Maldini and Giorgio Chiellini as a corner was floated in and both were yellow carded. Alexandre Pato replaced the not 100 per cent fit Beckham, while De Ceglie fell on to his ribs (which he fractured earlier this season) and made way for Jonathan Zebina. Buffon fumbled a Kaka angled drive and another Brazilian effort was deflected out for a corner off Nicola Legrottaglie. Inzaghi's fierce volley whistled inches over the bar in his last kick of the game, as he was replaced by Ronaldinho. Del Piero came on for Amauri and marked his 600th appearance in a Juventus jersey. The captain immediately had a great chance, but slipped on the surface as he pulled the trigger. Zebina charged down Dinho's shot, but Camoranesi selfishly wasted a counter by going for an unlikely lob when Del Piero would've gone clear on goal nine minutes from time. Pato wanted a penalty, but the referee judged Legrottaglie's risky tackle from behind to be fair. Moments later Favalli went through the back of Del Piero for a second yellow card, leaving Milan with 10 men for the final five minutes. Pato's accurate shot was charged down and Kaka also slipped when trying to get the rebound.
Ronaldinho also wanted a spot-kick for a coming-together with Chiellini, but again the referee waved play on and this time there was no doubt on the replays he got the ball.
Milan failed to take advantage of Zebina's howler, while Dinho failed to get his head on to Pirlo's free kick by a matter of inches from six yards. Kalac smothered a Legrottaglie snapshot, but 10-man Milan kept pouring forward and were unable to find a winner.
THIS IS PLAYER RATINGS :
Milan
Kalac- 6.5: Called into question on numerous occasions. Despite having to parry more than once, he could do little on the goal which was muscled goal-bound from close range.
Flamini- 6.0: Played a great game until the Juve goal, hence the lower rating. Whilst he is still adapting to the full-back role, he clearly wasn’t strong enough when dealing with a determined Iaquinta inside the box.
Favalli- 5.0: The former Lazio man started well but was often out-muscled by the physical play of the Juve forwards. Given his experience he could have avoided a second bookable offence.
Maldini- 6.5 : A competent display from the veteran, he showed Chiellini he isn’t going soft in his old age when taking the Juve stopper by the scruff of the neck.
Zambrotta- 5.5: The former Juve man was positive going forward but a little suspect at the back. Like Flamini he made heavy work of containing Iaquinta who imposed his strength on every attack.
Pirlo- 7.0: The Italian put some great balls over the top for Inzaghi and had Pippo been on target he could well have been on the assist sheet.
Beckham- 7.0: Becks left to a round of applause from the Giuseppe Meazza. Despite his age, he is still more than capable of displaying a professional performance at the highest level and his crossing regular proved dangerous.
Ambrosini- 6.5: He may look to claim for the assist but his say in the Milan goal was simply a scuffed shot that fell in the path of Seedorf. Nevertheless the ageing midfielder kept on going and did well to help out going forward.
Kaka- 7.0: Mr €100m put in his regular elegant performance creating numerous chances for Inzaghi. With a little more protection from Orsato, he could have proven decisive as he looked to run at Juve.
Seedorf- 7.0: The Dutchman left the field once again to a pocket of whistles from the home crowd. Despite the strange objection from his home support, he combined well with Kaka to give De Ceglie a headache throughout.
Inzaghi- 7.5: SuperPippo continues to roll back the years with impressive performances at the highest level. Always a constant threat, the former Juve man created one and could have had a couple himself had he been on target following some ambitious volleying.
Substitutes
Pato – 6.0, Ronaldinho- 5.5, Senderos- N/A
Juventus
Buffon- 6.5: There was little he could do on the goal. With most of Milan’s close chances being sprayed wide, the Italian No. 1 wasn’t called upon too frequently.
Grygera- 6.5: The fullback made several good runs forward and limited Milan's influence down his side of the pitch. Had a penalty shout waved away in the first half.
Legrottaglie- 7.0: The former Siena man stepped in when called to and made a decisive challenge on Ronaldinho that sparked cries for a penalty from the Rossoneri.
Chiellini- 8.0: He put in a very concrete performance to step in on numerous occasions and deny the Rossoneri the chance to run at the Juve goal. Buffon wasn’t called upon too often thanks to Giorgio’s expert reading of the game.
De Ceglie- 5.5: He was given a hard time by Kaka and Seedorf for large spells, as they continuously switched roles. The youngster was caught napping as Milan broke to take the lead.
Camoranesi- 7.5: The Italo-Argentinean finally put in the performance he is paid for. Staying out of trouble and whipping constant crosses in for the big-man in the box, he was the spark behind much of the Juve forward play.
Poulsen- 4.5: Yet again the Dane looked out of his depth and could only contain the opposition with rash last ditch challenges. Had Orsato been a little stricter, Poulsen could well have finished early for a second bookable offence.
Zanetti- 7.0: He put in a professional performance at the heart of midfield and is an example to Poulsen on how to stay out of trouble whilst still keeping the opposition at bay.
Marchionni- 5.5: The zippy winger got himself into good forward positions at times, but he wasted a golden chance to put his side ahead in the first period when he was fed through on goal by Amauri
Amauri- 7.0: The Brazilian put in a real shift tonight. Testament to this was his request to be substituted with a quarter of an hour to go; His legs simply couldn’t give any more.
Iaquinta- 8.5: The stocky forward was a handful throughout and showed his power to beat Flamini to the ball inside the box. With performances like tonight’s it is a wonder why Ranieri hasn’t given Vincenzo more faith over the course of the season.
Substitutes
Del Piero- 6.5, Zebina- N/A
0 komentar:
Post a Comment