The Italian summer is over but no matter how much he lowers the air conditioning Paulo Fonseca‘s Milan office seemed to be getting warmer and warmer.
While the international break did him a favor in providing some thinking time away from the limelight, he would quickly find himself loosening another button on that crisp white shirt of his should the Rossoneri sink against newly promoted Venezia.
Happily, Saturday night went in exactly the opposite direction for Fonseca’s boys who finished work early, slotting home four goals in the first half hour as Milan ran out 4-0 winners.
Leão and Theo, Who Else Would It Be
Rafael Leão and Theo Hernandez were the pair embroiled in the water break row two weeks ago but both were in starting 11 this evening.
It took the stars less then two minutes to catapult Milan into the lead. Hernandez robbed possession and quickly found his Portuguese teammate. Full of composure, Leão produced a beautiful backheel around the corner to complete the one-two and Hernandez did the rest.
He caught ‘keeper Jesse Joronen cold and the ball squirmed under him from a tight angle.
With that the fun began.
It was clear Venezia‘s defence were being pushed to the limit right from the start and in the 16th minute the lead was doubled. Reuben Loftus-Cheek’s tear down the left and Tijjani Reijnders’ subsequent cross led to a corner.
In a packed six yard box Youssouf Fofana made first contact and Matteo Gabbia directed the ball goalwards. However at half-time the goal was assigned to the French midfielder instead. A disastrous start for Venezia did not improve as the half wore on.
Two Penalties in Five Minutes Send Milan on The Way
Reijnders played a big role in the first 45 minutes and his shot was spilled by Joronen in the 23rd minute. Tammy Abraham followed up, felt the slightest of touches from the Goalie’s glove and went down.
Christian Pulisic was entrusted with effectively ending the game from the spot and made no mistake. Sweeping the ball right, while Joronen went left.
Surely now Venezia would tighten up at the back.
But no, almost immediately from the restart the right side of Venezia’s defence was left swinging open again. Leão entered the box and was challenged by Joel Schingtienne. Perhaps another soft one but after consulting V.A.R. the referee pointed to the spot for the second time in five minutes.
Milan were having fun at this point and just before the half hour mark Tammy Abraham stepped up to try notch his first Rossoneri goal.
The Englishman made no mistake from 12 yards and just like that Milan were up 4-0 within half an hour thanks to a thirty minute blitz.
While Venezia did claw back a bit of posession they were never going to trouble the home side and it’s a wonder they reappeared for the second half.
A Walk In The Park
With the game put to bed Milan were happy to take a breather and defend their lead for the first 15 minutes or so of the second period. That didn’t mean they didn’t still create chances and Leão was dying to get his name on the score sheet. In the 49th minute Joronen denied him when through on goal.
With Milan’s foot off the pedal Venezia were allowed some space to monouvre but could only sling in hopeful crosses. At least they weren’t just chasing shadows.
Just after the hour Fonseca withdrew arguably the two most influential players of the night in Leao and Reijnders, the massive Champions League clash with Liverpool in the back of his mind.
Another man having a good game was Loftus-Cheek and he saved Milan’s clean sheet with 20 minutes remaining.
Another lofted ball into the Rossoneri box by the visitors fell to Zampano who sidefooted under Mike Maignan. However Davide Di Marco was called to the V.A.R. monitor once again and spotted a horror, studs up tackle on Loftus-Cheek’s shin by former Juve man Hans Nicolussi. He was given his second yellow along with his marching orders.
You had to feel for Venezia at this point. Even when the Lagunari tried to do things right they had the door slammed in their face. Any attempts they made to play out from the back went wrong, comically at times.
It was just one of them nights.
Crisis? What Crisis?
The San Siro was half empty by the time the five additional minutes had elapsed, Milan fans content with a job well done within half an hour. A 4-0 scoreline will calm most of the nerves going into a massive week.
Fonseca is probably walking on air tonight with at least some of the pressure alleviated. It doesn’t get much easier for the Portuguese gaffer though.
His next two games against Liverpool and Inter. For now at least he can ask: Crisis? What Crisis?