Spezia came back to winning ways in Serie A after eight games as they disposed of an abysmal version of Milan on Saturday night. Late goals from Przemysław Wiśniewski and Salvatore Esposito set the score at 2-0 at the Alberto Picco Stadium, helping the Aquilotti reach Verona (who still have a game in hand) in the third-to-last spot in the table.
With three games to go, the battle to avoid relegation is still on fire and Leonardo Semplici’s Spezia got a massive boost of confidence today.
As for Milan, there was nothing new under the sun as Stefano Pioli’s umpteenth attempt to rotate his forces produced the same poor results. The coach left Davide Calabria and Olivier Giroud on the bench, but the substitutes – especially upfront – left no trace, from Ante Rebic to Divock Origi.
Milan seemed to have their mind set on next Tuesday’s Champions League Semi Final return already, but coming to the EuroDerby from a 0-2 loss to Spezia will not help the Rossoneri‘s morale.
If Inter beat Sassuolo tonight, the Rossoneri will see their gap from the fourth spot in the Serie A table widen to four points with three games left. That would make their run towards next year‘s Champions League terribly complicated.
Sandro Tonali gave some hope to Milan early in the game as he hit the post seven minutes after kick off. That seemed to herald an easy afternoon for Pioli’s side, who also come close to breaking the deadlock when Theo Hernandez fired the ball at Bartlomiej Dragowski from outside the box. The Polish goalie palmed away his effort to keep the score at 0-0.
Arkadiusz Reca had a chance for the Aquilotti but saw his shot in the middle of the box deflected by Fikayo Tomori’s slide tackle. When referee Daniele Doveri blew for half time, the nil-nil score seemed a fair outcome.
Milan had a sudden burst of life early into the second half but an exchange between Tonali and Brahim Diaz ended with the Spaniard’s shot hitting the side netting. From then on, it was radio silence from the Rossoneri.
Spezia, on the other hand, gained more courage little by little and it took once again Mike Maignan’s providential saves to keep Milan afloat for at least a few minutes. Magic Mike saved from M’Bala Nzola and Albin Ekdal but could not do anything on 75 minutes when defender Wisniewski tapped the ball in after Kelvin Amian’s header from a corner kick hit the post.
Ten minutes later, Inter’s youth academy product Salvatore Esposito wrapped it for Spezia as he brilliantly slotted the ball home from a free kick. It was the third win against Milan in three Serie A seasons for the Aquilotti, who confirmed to be an absolute nemesis for the Rossoneri.