Italian Serie A – First Half Review: A.C Milan versus Juventus
A.C Milan and Juventus, arch rivals from the Italy’s top division of football played out an extremely exciting first half of football at the San Siro Stadium. Milan kicked off the encounter with a bang as they almost took the lead
in the first minute of the match as Pato, Ibrahimovic and Robinho combined to almost give their team a dream start. However, the move never materialized into something close to a goal as Juventus got an opportunity to settle down into the match.
At first it looked as if Milan would blitz away with the match but Juventus adapted to the pace of the game and started to match the Rossoneri stride for stride. Milan had their first proper chance of the match in the 7th
minute as Pato swarmed down the right hand side of midfield and teed up the Swedish forward, Ibrahimovic for a shot on goal around about twenty yards away from the goal line. However, the Swede’s shot did beat the keeper but it failed to beat the cross bar
as it thudded off the goal post. In the 9th minute, Pato was again on the move and this time he played in Ibrahimovic yet again. The former Inter striker only managed to find the goalkeeper with his shot, who palmed the ball away for a corner kick.
The corner kick was taken by Pirlo who whipped the ball into the Juventus penalty area. The Italians in swinging cross was met by Papastathopoulos who headed the ball over the Juventus goal as the Bianconeri got some time to regroup
their defensive men. Juventus had their first shot on target from a long range out by Felipe Melo, the Brazilians shot was tamely caught and brought under control by Christian Abbiati. Milan’s best player of the first half was undoubtedly Pato, the Brazilian
forward was a menace for Juventus’s defense which has been under criticism in the 2010-2011 club football season.
In the 19th minute of the match, Del Piero almost broke the deadlock for Juventus. The legendary Italian striker’s left footed drive only managed to find the Milanese goalkeeper. In the 21st minute, Gattuso
tried his luck on goal for Milan but his shot was also saved by Marco Storari. In the 24th minute of the match, Juventus drew first blood as they got the opening goal of the match through their striker Fabio Quagliarella. Fabio’s connected wonderfully
with Paolo De Ceglie’s ball from out wide on the wing; the Italian striker’s header was perfectly placed in the corner. Milan’s defending was clearly at fault for the goal as their left back Luca Antonini failed to successfully mark Quagliarella inside his
team’s danger area.
Despite dominating the early proceedings of the match, Milan found themselves a goal down after just 20 odd minutes of the first half. It was a demoralizing goal for the Rossoneri who had hoped that they would be the ones to break
the stalemate. Alessandro Nesta’s slip around the 30th minute mark gave Juventus a chance to add to their lead but Del Piero was again denied by Christian Abbiati, who had a good first half for the Milanese side. Milan were forced into their first
change of the match due to an injury to Daniele Bonera.
The Italian defender was replaced by Ignazio Abate from the substitute’s bench in the 35th minute of the match. There were only two bookings in the first half of the match as Melo was booked for his heavy tackle on Pato
in the 36th minute for Juventus. Alternatively, Kevin Prince Boateng was booked in the 39th minute for a late challenge on Fabio Quagliarella. Boateng had Milan’s next chance to draw level in the 42nd minute of the match but
the Ghanaian midfielder mistimed his jump and directed his header way over the bar as a result. The first half eventually ended with the score line at 1-0 in favor of Juventus. It was an eventful half to say the least as it had goals and tackles galore.
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