Milan vs Roma 3-1: Early Mistakes Pave Way to Rossoneri Win

Roma paid a heavy price for their early mistakes as they succumbed 1-3 to Milan at the San Siro in Serie A matchday 20. Before they could even realize what was happening, the Giallorossi were already two goals down, propitiated by a Tammy Abraham handball that sent Milan to the spot and a dreadful Roger Ibanez back-pass.

Abraham redeemed himself by halving the deficit for Roma before the break but, despite being in control for a good part of the second half, José Mourinho’s boys conceded another one when they remained with one man less due to Rick Karsdorp’s expulsion.

Milan could thus make the best out of a challenging situation – as they faced the Giallorossi with a pretty depleted squad – and reduce their gap from top-ranked Inter to one point only, as they wait for the Nerazzurri to catch up their cancelled game against Bologna.

Indeed, the surge in Covid cases in Italy took a heavy toll on Stefano Pioli’s squad, who found himself with only 20 players available – including 3 goalkeepers. On top of that, Milan were missing the likes of Franck Kessié and Ismael Bennacer who joined their national sides to compete in the upcoming AFCON.

In Pioli’s 4-2-3-1, Olivier Giroud was the lone striker today as Zlatan Ibrahimovic sat on the bench. At right back, Alessandro Florenzi faced his past club Roma for the first time.

Conversely, José Mourinho didn’t have any formation problem and was able to field his ideal 3-5-2 lineup where Nicolò Zaniolo and Tammy Abraham spearheaded the attack.

Roma Mistakes Gift-Wrap Double Lead to Milan

Milan had a better start and found some unexpected help from Abraham, who naively touched the ball with his hand from a Theo Hernandez shot in the box. An unfortunate move, as the Englishman’s touch didn’t change the trajectory of the ball, and Rui Patricio pulled off a good save to deny Hernandez’s effort. 

The referee pointed to the penalty spot after checking the VAR and it was up to Olivier Giroud to bury it and bring the Rossoneri ahead after just eight minutes. 

José Mourinho urged his boys to remain calm but Roma were in gift-wrapping mode and soon offered Milan a comfortable chance to make it two. Roger Ibanez went for a suicidal back-pass to his goalkeeper, Giroud intercepted it and almost repaid the courtesy as he hit the post from point-blank range. However, Junior Messias was more cynical and whipped the ball into the Giallorossi box from the rebound.

Roma had a sudden jolt on 25 minutes, taking advantage of a sloppy control from Pierre Kalulu. Abraham served Nicolò Zaniolo with a fine filtering pass but Mike Maignan was well alert and saved the Azzurro‘s shot to the near post. 

It was Zaniolo again to lead Roma’s charge on 40 minutes as he came up with a deadly shot that found Abraham’s deflection. But Maignan saved the day for his side, using his reflexes to defuse the challenge despite being wrong-footed. He must have learned that from his trainer Dida, who used to be a specialist in such “instinct” saves during his days as Milan goalkeeper…

Roma used the same “scheme” one minute later and this time it worked out, as Abraham’s new deflection from a Lorenzo Pellegrini’s shot left no chance to the Rossoneri‘s goalie and halved the gap for Mourinho’s troops just before the break.

Karsdorp Sees Red to Clip Roma’s Wings

The second half opened with a Brahim Diaz missile that made Rui Patricio’s crossbar rattle. Roma answered with a textbook counterattack on 59 minutes, but once again Maignan denied Abraham’s conclusion. Two good chances for the show, which would have both deserved a better outcome.

Roma were the better side for some good 20 minutes of the second period, slowly piling up the pressure on the home side. The Giallorossi coach saw a path towards balancing the game and switched to ultra-offensive mode, sending in Stephan El Shaarawy, Felix Afena-Gyan and eventually Eldor Shomurodov. Pioli, on the other hand, reinforced his midfield line with Tiemoué Bakayoko and gave some playing time to the returning Rafael Leao.

Mourinho’s hopes, however, suffered a hard blow on 73 minutes as Rick Karsdorp was booked for the second time for a vicious tackle on Hernandez and left his side with ten men. 

Stefano Pioli thus sent in Ibrahimovic to inflict the finishing blow and the Swedish Highlander promptly obliged, offering Leao a mouth-watering chance to embellish his comeback with a goal. The Portuguese dashed past the Giallorossi defense and whipped the ball past Rui Patricio to make it three for the Diavolo.

It was still not over: Gianluca Mancini prevented Milan from making a fourth with a superb clearance right on the goal line but then was bested by Rafael Leao and had to knock him down in the box. Penalty again, and red card for the Roma center back. Ibra stepped up to the plate but saw his shot deflected by Rui Patricio, collecting his fifth (!) mistake from the spot out of his last seven attempts. 

Mention of honor for José Mourinho, who heard the Roma supporters launching a racist chant against Ibrahimovic and asked them to stop – which they did. Chapeau, Special One.

What’s Next for Milan and Roma

Milan will be hoping to recover at least a few players as they prepare to travel to Venice on Sunday to extend their winning streak to three games. On the same day, Roma will welcome their archenemy Juventus at the Stadio Olimpico without two key players as Mancini and Karsdorp.

 

MATCH SCORECARD

January 6, 2022 – Serie A 2021-2022 Round 20
MILAN – ROMA 3-1

SCORERS: 8′ Giroud (M, pen.), 17′ Messias (M), 40′ Abraham (R), 82′ Rafael Leao (M)