Whew! That was tough!!! I lament the sending off of Leão. I have a ticket to watch Milan vs. Napoli at San Siro next weekend and there will be no Leão, bummer!
Giroud, Calabria, Tonali, Theo, Leão played well (while he was in); Messias found a way to contribute; two games in a row that the much maligned right wingers Saelemaekers and Messias actually contributed; that is encouraging. Leão was unlucky, his second yellow was accidental but if you miss the ball completely and makes the defender bleed from the head, yeah, you'll get a yellow for dangerous high kick. I thought the first one was justified too, unfortunately (elbowed the defender). This was a very difficult second half with one man down; good subs to reinforce the defense; overall we deserved the win, barely, but it was also kind of a miracle that Samp didn't score in that play around 85 or 87 minutes when they hit the post and Maignan saved us twice.
I said both yellows for Rafa were justified; I thought I saw him elbowing the defender for the first one. Actually from what I read elsewhere, he didn't, and the defender simulated it. Shame! Now we don't have him against Napoli! There should be VAR review of these simulations too.
Rafa could have pulled out of the rovesciata. He was on a yellow, so he should know better. Penalty call was good. The defender made no attempt to play the ball, he only wanted to manhandle Giroud and left his hand where it shouldn't have been. Milan showed good character to win a man down.
The TV kept showing it from an angle from which it was hard to see the handball. At one point and only once, they showed it from another angle, and it was the clearest handball on Earth! The penalty existed and was correctly called. If they are complaining, they have no reason whatsoever to complain, especially after the first yellow on Rafa that apparently was not warranted at all. The second one, sure, but without the first one he wouldn't have received a red. So if anything, poor refereeing damaged us, not them. We still won, which is encouraging (shows grit, the kind of spirit that earned us to the Scudetto last season). Most of our players did well. It was a collective effort. It was nice to see how Tonali stepped up after Rafa was sent out and worked very hard to be everywhere and compensate for the man down. Giroud also worked a lot. Pioli was smart in bringing Tomori to solidify the defense, in a moment when it looked like Samp would beat us. Overall, a very nice win, although a tough and nerve-wrecking one. I was very nervous!
I need to see more from Charles before I can rate him. Maldini believes in him and he would be one to know. Tonali has really been coming along.
I just returned from a two month trip from Italy to visit family. One of my plans was to head to the San Siro to watch the opening match but didn't make it that far, family never wants to let you go "stay longer" Going back in April and hoping to catch either the Milan -Empoli game or the Milan - Lecce game.
Origi was clutch for Liverpool, but never a starter for them. IDK what's going on with his injuries. If he can stay fit, I think he'll be a great option for you guys.
Tough tough loss. We were definitely missing some magic up front and a couple of mistakes caused us the match. Kalulu had to score that easy put away and we would have fairly ended the match in a draw. Alas, that was not going to happen.
Very unfortunate result, need to finish our chances. Saelemaekers played terribly, Dest what a bum and brining on Adli? Odd call, hasn't played since summer practice league.
What a great last 15 min, what a fighting spirit and a crazy finish. I'm just really concerned about all the injuries, like wtf?!
What can I say - effing impressive! Just a solid performance everywhere, especially in the back half. I was really concerned with the middle being so open, but the team did well and having Theo back was super important. Diaz was terrific, Bennacer superb, Giroud just a massive effort and hustle and Tomori with Kalulu did great. Leao is such a danger and also nice hustle. Just beautiful team to watch today. Hope thoa carries over to Tuesday. Forza Milan!