This weekend, Milan proved to be resurrecting slowly. Ibrahimovic and his PSG teammates lose first of the season in Ligue 1. Man United take care of Arsenal at the Old Trafford 2-1 and a missed Rooney pk. Lastly, Inter end Juve’s magnificent undefeated streak.
4) Milan resurgence continue after 5-1 demolition of Chievo Verona
The days are looking brighter for AC Milan as the dark era is slowly lightening up. The Rossoneri put in a great performance Saturday against lowly Chievo with goals from Emanuelson, Montolivo, Krkic, El Shaarawy and Pazzini. Sergio Pellissier scored the only goals for the side that was once known as the Flying Donkeys. It looks like Chievo might be flying directly to Serie B at the end of the season.
We all know that Claudio Ranieri is known as the Tinkerman but I think the name can be assigned to Massimiliano Allegri as the Tuscan tactician has experimenting with different formations as late deploying a 3-4-3 in the last Champions League. For this match, he shelved the 3-4-3 in favour of the 4-2-3-1. Phillippe Mexes and Christian Zapata made up the central defensive pair with Ignazio Abate and Kevin Constant as the makeshift wingback. Montolivo partnered captain Ambrosini in front of the defence. In attack, Emanuelson played in the centre with Bojan and El Shaarawy as his wingmen supporting the lone-striker Pazzini.
This may well be the right formation for the Diavoli to field in the next game against Malaga as victory is desperately needed to keep their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League second round alive. This formation allowed the Rossoneri to clog up the middle and hit on the counter with style. AC Milan is certainly not lacking any options up front and if Mexes and Zapata can develop a strong partnership, then this side will be moving on up much earlier than expected. Adriano Galliani stated he had confidence in Allegri. Allegri stated that he needed some time and Galliani allowing the coach the time to tinker is what is doing the team some good now. Should the Rossoneri make a miraculous comeback to finish top three this season and qualify for the 2013-2014 CL, then Allegri might just be around for another session.
AC Milan are currently in 10th with 14 points. El Shaarawy leads the Serie A with 8 goals.
3) PSG lose, Ibra expelled
Carlo Ancelotti’s Paris Saint-Germain lost their first game of the season in Ligue 1 thus failing to keep Marseille distant by three points.
It was a very lucky encounter for PSG as the Parisian-side stormed in attack with various chances until the half hour mark. Unfortunately for the men in blue defender Mamadou Sakho turned the ball into his own net at the 55th minute.
At the 70th minute, proof of the Ibra-dependency reared its ugly head as the tall Swede was sent off for an ugly foul. The ballon d’or nominee went in late on St. Etienne goalkeeper Ruffier following a through ball and the referee immediately gave him a straight red card. When frustrated, Ibra tends to make some thoughtless tackles. Good decision and well deserved.
Three minutes later, the visitors doubled their lead when Alejandro Alonso got down the right before slotted a precise pass to ex-Milan attacker Aubameyang in the area who beat Sirigu with a confident finish.
As consolation, Hoarau pulled one back when he smashed home a spectacular half-volley across Ruffier but it was too little too late for PSG.
Paris is currently tied for first with 22 points on level with Marseille.
2) Arsenal is no threat for Man U who received yet another PK gift
Manchester United dominated Arsenal at Old Trafford with ex-Gunner Robin van Persie who struck within three minutes against his former club as the Red Devils eased to a 2-1 victory against Arsene Wenger’s 10-man side.
On the stroke of half time, Wayne Rooney was awarded a penalty for a handling offence in the box. Cazorla handled an Ashley Young cross which the ref judged as voluntary. Voluntary or not, the ball did make contact with his hands in the box. But the argument could be made that the Spaniard was blocking his face and his arms were close to his body and not extended meaning that was for protection and involuntary. I can agree with the Arsenal man as when the ball is flying at your face, your natural instincts are to protect your face. Hard to judge in my opinion.
Justice would serve its purpose though seeing that Rooney missed his chance to double United’s lead by thumping the base of the post. Arsenal was still in it at this point as it remained 1-0 going into halftime.
Man U put the game to bed when Rooney crossed the ball to Evra and the France international planted a firm header inside the post – 2-0.
Two minutes later, Wilshere dug the hole a little deeper for Arsenal as he received a second yellow for a terrible tackle on Evra.
The Gunners did manage to pull one back though through Cazorla who netted an excellent consolation goal from the edge of the box with the last kick of the game.
Man United now leads the EPL with 24 points. Chelsea drew 1-1 with Swansea and is now in second with 23 points while Manchester City also tied 0-0 with West Ham United.
1) Inter end Juve’s 49 Serie A match unbeaten streak
Well, the good run is finally over my fellow Juventini and it was absolutely great while it lasted. The 49 Serie A match undefeated streak is now over. It is a record that will most likely stay intact for a long while in Italy and Europe as no other squad has accomplished this accolade in their respective domestic league.
Inter beat Juventus 3-1 in Turin on Saturday with a Diego Milito brace and Rodrigo Palacio hammering in the final nail while Juventus opened the scoring with an Arturo Vidal offside sitter.
The match was pretty even with Juventus edging out their rivals on possession with 51% compared to the visitor’s 49% while shots on target were also in favour of the Old Lady with 7 shots to 6 for the Beneamata.
Juventus took the lead in dramatic fashion after 19 seconds. Claudio Marchisio sent Kwadwo Asamoah through with a slide rule pass that the Ghanaian international carried into the box to lay a low cross across the area to an unmarked Vidal who easily slotted home. Video replays show, however, that Asamoah was a few steps offside when he received the ball.
This sparked dedication and desire in the Nerazzzurri players who applied their game plan to perfection, closing the gaps in defence which left the Bianconeri attack hopeless to score and hitting Juve’s vulnerable defence on the counter.
The Milan-based club hit back with a yet a debatable goal of their own. Diego Milito received a pass in the box when Marchisio clearly held (albeit for a few seconds) the Argentine striker’s jersey who, at the same time, released his shot and fell to the ground. The ref pointed to the spot and Milito blasted the ball in past Buffon who was extremely close to palming the ball away – 1-1.
The Old Lady poured their efforts in attack but came up short with some fine chances from Bendtner, Quagliarella and Pirlo. Inter then ended a quick counterattack with Fredy Guarin who unleashed a bullet which Buffon parried onto the path of the on-running Milito who slid it home on Buffon’s short side – 2-1 Inter.
Juve switched to a 3-man attack but it was again Inter getting the better of the Bianconeri on the counter with Nagatomo catching Palacio in the area unmarked who shot it home to make it 3-1 and lights out Juve.
Opinion: Inter fully deserves credit for this match for implementing coach Andrea Stramaccioni’s game plan and was slightly lucky as well. It certainly is not easy to go to Turin nowadays and collect three points. Juve did not approach the match as they normally do and this will probably change when head coach Antonio Conte returns in December.
Juve’s first goal was legitimately offside and should have been disallowed. Rodrigo Palacio also had an offside goal rightfully called off as well. The PK sparked Inter’s revival. Although there was a slight shirt tug, Milito did get his shot off which leaves us with a very debatable penalty which could even be considered as harsh.
In my opinion, I believe Juve’s stand-in coach Angelo Alessio could have done better with the substitution choices. Mirko Vucinic received a knock and was injured; therefore, at the beginning of the restart Alessio decided to call up Niklas Bendtner. The Dane is big and slow and does not suit Juve’s attack. The better move would have been to call up Quagliarella to partner Giovinco up front. Secondly, I do agree with the Stephan Lichtsteiner sub as he was becoming reckless and almost received a second yellow. Martin Caceres was a good choice to replace the Swiss man. Lastly, Paul Pogba is in fine form at the moment and is beaming with confidence. It would have been wise to give the 19 year old wonderkid with some playing time to prove his quality.
In any case, losing once in a while is not a bad thing anyway. It’s not like Juve lost to Atalanta or some low end team. No, rather the Bianconeri lost to a direct title contender who is on a seven-game winning streak. Nothing to worry about and I’m sure Conte is already making the adjustments to ensure another loss will not happen again anytime soon.
Juventus continue to lead the Serie A with 28 points while Inter follow closely with 27.
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