Posts Tagged ‘Milan’

Napoli 0-0 Milan: Donado-napoli Takes Its First Step, Rossoneri Shut Out (Serie A Matchday 29)

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

Napoli's coach Roberto Donadoni (L) shouts orders at his team beside AC Milan's David Beckham during their Italian Serie A soccer match at the San Paolo stadium in Naples, March 22, 2009. (REUTERS)

In pure Neapolitan style, Azzurri supporters greeted the San Paolo appearance of their new manager with the following banner: “Donadoni, sbruoglia sta matassa“. That’s dialect for “Donadoni, clear this mess up”.

Well… mission accomplished? Not quite, but Napoli are on the right path, and the way in which Donadoni achieved this 0-0 draw shows some reassuring signs of improvement. If you’re not convinced, a clean sheet against a team which had scored in 29 consecutive matches (Milan‘s last goal-less fixture was in October against Cagliari) speaks fairly clearly; the Azzurri’s stellar pre-Winter performances are still very far away, but at least on the motivational side Donadoni’s done his job.

And to be perfectly honest, Napoli had indeed scored a valid goal (Marek Hamsik) which really shouldn’t have been called off.

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Siena 1-5 Milan: Super Pippo & The Duck Make Milan… Rock (Serie A Matchday 28)

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

AC Milan's Andrea Pirlo (C) celebrates with his teammates Filippo Inzaghi (L), Pato (2nd L), David Beckham and Paolo Maldini (R) after scoring a penalty against Siena during their Italian Serie A soccer match in Siena March 15, 2009.  (REUTERS)

Yes, I didn’t look for that rhyme very far… sue me for lack of imagination. I stand by it: it’s an appropriate title, and something a bit more original than phrases including “Super Pippo” and “300″.

Milan‘s visit to Siena Sunday was really a one-way encounter for the Rossoneri, who saw the welcome returns of Kakà and Ronaldinho from injury as well as the confirmation that maybe, just maybe (and for one last season), old & new can blend together in this team. On the one hand we have Inzaghi, who followed last week’s Atalanta hat-trick with a brace today, just to confirm that even as a 35 year-old he’s lost nothing of his goalscoring cunning. On the other hand we have Pato, whom Inzaghi has apparently taught well and who quite happily seems be carrying the scoring torch at Milan. With his two goals today (one more spectacular than the other) the “Duck” rises to 14 goals in this Serie A season, just five behind capocannoniere Marco Di Vaio.

Oh, and for those still confused about my “Super Pippo” and “300″ reference: no, this isn’t another Zack Snyder movie. Simply, Serie A goalscorer extraordinaire Filippo Inzaghi just bagged his 300th professional career goal Sunday. Say what want about Inzaghi (he’s always offside, he dives, etc.) but… Mazel Tov! Few people can make that claim about their football career.

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Sampdoria 2-1 Milan: Cassano & Pazzini Sink the Rossoneri Boat (Serie A Matchday 26)

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

Sampdoria 2-1 Milan: Cassano & Pazzini Sink the Rossoneri Boat (Serie A Matchday 26)

February just isn’t AC Milan‘s month. With the exception of a (valuable, but unconvincing) victory obtained against Cagliari, the Rossoneri’s performances since their 3-0 thumping of Lazio have been punctuated by mediocrity. They tied to Reggina, lost the Derby della Madonnina to Inter, and got eliminated from the UEFA Cup. Sunday’s match against Sampdoria marks the latest day of a very rainy month for Carlo Ancelotti, his team decimated by injuries and persecuted by fate.

As for the Blucerchiati, perhaps getting rid of European cup engagements was not such a bad thing. Well rested after skipping their mid-week fixture, Cassano & Pazzini were in fine form to provide the winning goals for their team today.

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Milan 1-0 Cagliari: It’s Another Injury-Fest, Seedorf Saves Rossoneri (Serie A Matchday 25)

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

AC Milan's Clarence Seedorf celebrates after scoring against Cagliari during their Italian Serie A soccer match at the San Siro stadium in Milan February 22, 2009. (REUTERS)

“Pain & Suffering” seems to be the theme for big clubs this week-end. After Inter, Roma, and Juventus, injury-laden AC Milan was the fourth team having to go through hell and fury to scrape a win against Cagliari on Sunday. A Rossoblu side which, as evidenced by their 7th spot in the league rankings, confirmed once again to be fully deserving of their recent attention.

Indeed, Massimiliano Allegri’s team put up a really fierce display at the San Siro today, having only bad luck (cf. Cossu’s shot off the woodwork plus a couple of wrong offside calls) and one tiny defensive mistake to blame for their loss. Clarence Seedorf’s tally is thus keeping Milan’s slender serie A title hopes alive.

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Serie A: The Battle for Champions League Qualification

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Serie A: The Battle for Champions League

In a league with its fair share of last-day title deciders, Serie A has still plenty to say with 14 league matches left on the calendar. Even though Inter Milan‘s victory over cousins AC Milan last week may have strongly nudged this season’s Scudetto towards the Nerazzurri, Juventus could still catch Internazionale and at a push the Rossoneri still have an outside shot and a glimmer of hope. With both sides having relatively old squads however, I just can’t see them picking up enough points to topple Mourinho’s men.

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