It was an ordinary night for Milan at the San Siro as the Rossoneri didn’t have to sweat too much to dispose of Marco Giampaolo’s Torino. Goals by Rafael Leao and Franck Kessié got the job done for Milan in the first half already as the Granata provided little opposition and almost never came close to threaten Gianluigi Donnarumma’s goal.
All in all, this is the best Stefano Pioli could ask: A soft test to recover from the first seasonal loss they suffered at Juventus on Wednesday and retain their Serie A leadership for at least one more week. Tomorrow, it will be up to Inter – who are now four points behind – to do what’s necessary to remain hot on their trail as they face a much tougher challenge in the name of Roma.
For the match at the San Siro, Pioli recovered Sandro Tonali after he served a one-match ban and deployed him alongside Franck Kessié in a double pivot role. With Hakan Calhanoglu unavailable, the offensive trio behind lone striker Rafael Leao was made up by Samu Castillejo, Brahim Diaz, and Jens Petter Hauge. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was in the dugout again, though still not fully recovered.
Marco Giampaolo was unbeaten since four games and was facing for the first time the team that gave him the boot in November 2019, ending his short adventure as the Rossoneri coach. There were no big surprises in his usual 3-5-2 formation, where Simone Verdi supported Andrea Belotti on the front line.
Line-up #MilanTorino ?@SamuCastillejo, @Brahim and @jenspetter99 start behind @RafaeLeao7. Come on, lads?#SempreMilan@EASPORTSFIFA pic.twitter.com/ZDN7JVeDar
— AC Milan (@acmilan) January 9, 2021
The game was fully in the Rossoneri‘s control from the very beginning though it took quite some time to see any clear scoring chance.
Milan’s dominance turned into an opener only on 25 minutes as the Rossoneri came up with a beautiful team effort featuring Theo Hernandez, Brahim Diaz, and Rafael Leao – with the Portuguese finalizing it with a fine touch to put the ball past Salvatore Sirigu and wrap his fifth seasonal goal.
Ten minutes later, Kessié’s “usual” penalty conversion (it was the 10th penalty Milan were awarded this season) doubled Pioli’s band’s lead. It took quite some time for referee Fabio Maresca to review Andrea Belotti’s contact with Brahim Diaz before pointing at the penalty spot – because if on one hand the Spaniard fell down like he was struck by lightning, on the other hand Torino’s Gallo was indeed a split second too late with his tackle.
Torino’s reaction was in a free kick from ex-Rossonero Ricardo Rodriguez who tried to play a nice trick on his old club with a swift curling effort that hit the crossbar.
Kessié could have had his second – and Milan their third – just before half-time but his shot at the end of a last-minute breakaway was saved from Sirigu. When Maresca sent the teams for a break, the score was still at 2-0.
? | STARTING XI
— Torino FC English (@TorinoFC1906_En) January 9, 2021
Here's our team for the upcoming #MilanTorino #SFT pic.twitter.com/R95vUyHh3h
Five minutes after the restart, there seemed to be a new hope for Torino as Maresca allowed a penalty for a Tonali challenge on Verdi, but the VAR eventually corrected his decision: It was Verdi to kick his opponent and poor Tonali even injured himself in the occasion and had to be carried away from the pitch on a stretcher.
Thus, Stefano Pioli found himself again in emergency in midfield and had to send in Diogo Dalot in order to place Davide Calabria next to Kessié and provide some coverage in the middle of the park.
Giampaolo tried to switch to a more offensive setup, sending in Simone Zaza and placing him next to Andrea Belotti, with Simone Verdi in the hole. It didn’t help much, as the first real trouble for Donnarumma came only in the 91st minute, when a nice Jacopo Segre shot forced him to get his gloves dirty for the first time.
Torino didn’t take advantage of Pioli’s woes in midfield and the Rossoneri could actually switch to cruise control mode and wrap up their 12th win out of 17 games quite comfortably. There was also time for a Zlatan Ibrahimovic cameo, the Big Swede coming back to the pitch for the first time since the injury he suffered against Napoli.
The two sides will meet again on Tuesday for a Coppa Italia Round of 16 match-up as Marco Giampaolo will be hoping to cause a bit more trouble to the current Serie A leaders.
MATCH REPORT
January 9, 2021 – Serie A 2020-21 Round 17
MILAN-TORINO 2-0
SCORERS: 25′ Rafael Leao, 35′ Kessié pen.
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MILAN (4-2-3-1): G. Donnarumma; Calabria, Kjaer, Romagnoli, Hernandez; Tonali (54′ Diogo Dalot), Kessié; Castillejo, Brahim Diaz (60′ Calhanoglu), Hauge (84′ Maldini); Rafael Leao (84′ Ibrahimovic) (Tatarusanu, A. Donnarumma, Colombo, Conti, Duarte, Frigerio, Kalulu, Musacchio) Coach: Pioli |
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TORINO (4-4-1-1): Sirigu; Izzo (63′ Zaza), Lyanco, Bremer; Singo, Lukic, Rincon (76′ Segre), Gojak (46′ Linetty), Rodriguez (63′ Murru); Verdi; Belotti (85′ Bonazzoli) (Milinkovic-Savic, Rosati, Ansaldi, Baselli, Buongiorno, Nkoulou, Vojvoda) Coach: Giampaolo |
REFEREE: Mr. Maresca from Naples
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Brahim Diaz, Romagnoli, Tonali, Rafael Leao, Diogo Dalot, Calabria (M), Rincon, Segre (T); Extra Time: 1st Half 3′, 2nd Half 6′
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