Serie A Week 24: Inter Milan Top AC Milan 2-1 In Derby
February 17th 2009 04:00
It's been a while since I commented on Serie A games. The Milan derby was a perfect opportunity to get back to the Calcio.
The first thing that struck me while watching the game is how porous and focus-less (is that even a word?) the Rossoneri's defense is. Inter knocked a the door early in the game with a free-kick from midfield that somehow found Zlatan Ibrahimovic's header inside the 18-yard box with no one marking the striker. Fortunately for Milan, Ibrahimovic's header went way over the bar, keeping the game scoreless. Milan's back-four was caught again at the 17th minute, but Ambrosini's last-ditch tackle prevented Stankovic from placing a perfect shot against Abbiati.
Inter finally found the back of the net at the 28th minute when a cross from Maicon found the head of Adriano. Although the ball bounced on the Brazilian's striker arm, the goal still stood. Here again, Milan's defense was completely static and reacted only at the last second. Three minutes before halftime, Stankovic easily ran past the Rossoneri's sleepy defense to score his team's second.
Although the entire defense is to blame for this dismal performance, Kaladze was easily Milan's worst player on the pitch (Beckham was completely invisible so I don't think it's fair to count inaction as a bad performance). Every single move the defender made seemed to be the wrong one. Inter players easily went past him, and he often failed to properly track the ball.
In light of this effort by Carlo Ancelotti's troops, the performance of Mourinho's men seemed almost flawless. Their defense was well organized, effectively preventing Milan from entering their box. Pato made it in a couple of times but he was easily dispossessed of the ball. Pato finally scored at the 70th minute after a low cross by Jankulovski. Milan applied considerable pressure on their rivals in the last twenty minutes of the game, but Inter stood tall. Inzaghi was denied a goal for offside, and it was one of the rare times where he was often called offside by the linesman. The Inter defense really did their job well.
At the other end, Abbiati kept Milan in the game far longer than they deserved. The final score could've been 4 or 5-1 if it wasn't for the keeper's save and Inter strikers shooting wide. As for Beckham, well this was one those games that prove his detractors right – the theory that against strong teams the English midfielder often disappears. He didn't finish the game as he was replaced by Inzaghi – a leg injury also provided perfect timing – and could only watch the final minutes from the bench. The absence of Kaka also made it hard for Beckham because where Kaka is a selfless athlete, Ronaldinho seems to always want the ball, and that was the case on Sunday. Ronaldinho was given the freedom to roam everywhere, and that pretty much took Beckham out of the game since every time Ronaldinho moved around, Seedorf also had to move, forcing Beckham to stay in retreat.
In the end, Milan are the only ones to blame for their demise. Inter was by far the more superior team on the field. Their victory was well deserved.
AC Milan's line-up: Christian Abbiati; Marek Jankulovski, Kakha Kaladze (Philippe Senderos, 78th), Paolo Maldini, Gianluca Zambrotta; David Beckham (Filippo Inzaghi, 56th), Clarence Seedorf, Andrea Pirlo, Ronaldinho, Massimo Ambrosini; Alexandre Pato.
Inter Milan's line-up: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Walter Samuel, Cristian Chivu, Davide Santon; Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambassio, Sulley Ali Muntari (Maxwell, 87th), Dejan Stankovic; Adriano, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. (Patrick Viera came on at some point, but I didn't catch when and for whom).
The first thing that struck me while watching the game is how porous and focus-less (is that even a word?) the Rossoneri's defense is. Inter knocked a the door early in the game with a free-kick from midfield that somehow found Zlatan Ibrahimovic's header inside the 18-yard box with no one marking the striker. Fortunately for Milan, Ibrahimovic's header went way over the bar, keeping the game scoreless. Milan's back-four was caught again at the 17th minute, but Ambrosini's last-ditch tackle prevented Stankovic from placing a perfect shot against Abbiati.
Inter finally found the back of the net at the 28th minute when a cross from Maicon found the head of Adriano. Although the ball bounced on the Brazilian's striker arm, the goal still stood. Here again, Milan's defense was completely static and reacted only at the last second. Three minutes before halftime, Stankovic easily ran past the Rossoneri's sleepy defense to score his team's second.
Although the entire defense is to blame for this dismal performance, Kaladze was easily Milan's worst player on the pitch (Beckham was completely invisible so I don't think it's fair to count inaction as a bad performance). Every single move the defender made seemed to be the wrong one. Inter players easily went past him, and he often failed to properly track the ball.
In light of this effort by Carlo Ancelotti's troops, the performance of Mourinho's men seemed almost flawless. Their defense was well organized, effectively preventing Milan from entering their box. Pato made it in a couple of times but he was easily dispossessed of the ball. Pato finally scored at the 70th minute after a low cross by Jankulovski. Milan applied considerable pressure on their rivals in the last twenty minutes of the game, but Inter stood tall. Inzaghi was denied a goal for offside, and it was one of the rare times where he was often called offside by the linesman. The Inter defense really did their job well.
At the other end, Abbiati kept Milan in the game far longer than they deserved. The final score could've been 4 or 5-1 if it wasn't for the keeper's save and Inter strikers shooting wide. As for Beckham, well this was one those games that prove his detractors right – the theory that against strong teams the English midfielder often disappears. He didn't finish the game as he was replaced by Inzaghi – a leg injury also provided perfect timing – and could only watch the final minutes from the bench. The absence of Kaka also made it hard for Beckham because where Kaka is a selfless athlete, Ronaldinho seems to always want the ball, and that was the case on Sunday. Ronaldinho was given the freedom to roam everywhere, and that pretty much took Beckham out of the game since every time Ronaldinho moved around, Seedorf also had to move, forcing Beckham to stay in retreat.
In the end, Milan are the only ones to blame for their demise. Inter was by far the more superior team on the field. Their victory was well deserved.
AC Milan's line-up: Christian Abbiati; Marek Jankulovski, Kakha Kaladze (Philippe Senderos, 78th), Paolo Maldini, Gianluca Zambrotta; David Beckham (Filippo Inzaghi, 56th), Clarence Seedorf, Andrea Pirlo, Ronaldinho, Massimo Ambrosini; Alexandre Pato.
Inter Milan's line-up: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Walter Samuel, Cristian Chivu, Davide Santon; Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambassio, Sulley Ali Muntari (Maxwell, 87th), Dejan Stankovic; Adriano, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. (Patrick Viera came on at some point, but I didn't catch when and for whom).
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