Italian Serie A: Parma vs. AC Milan – Full Time Report (Part 1)
The match was supposed to be a total thriller. With the Milan side heavily filled with fine attackers, Parma were ready to entertain them in their home ground. Milan's away form has been very weak till now however their newly signed striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was scoring in almost all the matches that he played for them. The former Inter Milan player showed the world that he was made for the Italian league as he always found the net while playing for his former club's rival, AC Milan.
San Siro has always been like a home to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the Swedish striker proved it yet again while performing for the San Siro side AC Milan; the Italian side he signed for during the summer after he made a shocking move from the Spanish La Liga giants, Barcelona.
Both the coaches gave their team's line-up before the match started. AC Milan were to play a traditional 4-3-3 with Christian Abbiati being the goal stopper for the club. The experienced Alessandro Nesta featured as a central defender while the Brazilian youngster Thiago Silva helped him out by being the second central defender for the team. Gianluca Zambrotta and Luca Antonini featured as full backs on the flanks. The newly assigned Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri was trying to find the best combination for his team and this time round he featured Ivan Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo and Clarence Seedorf in the midfield. The in-form Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic was to play as a centre forward while Ronaldinho shifted towards the right hand side and featured as a right winger with the Brazilian player Robinho on the left flank, where usually Ronaldinho used to play.
On the other hand, the home side Parma featured a 4-5-1 formation with Hernan Crespo playing as the sole striker for the Italian side. Antonio Candreva was the "attacking" midfielder who used to move up front to help Crespo with attacks while Stefano Morrone and Massimo Gobbi played as central defensive midfielders. Marques and Mariano Angelo played on the right and the left wing. Antonio Mirante was the "goal stopper" for the home side and he was being assisted by Luca Antonelli, Alessandro Lucarelli, Massimo Paci and Cristian Zaccardo on the back.
The match started off with the home side taking advantage of the home ground and the home crowd while Milan were the ones struggling to find the ball at their feet. The home team was not letting the visitors to even touch the ball even with such a strong team with such big names. However, Gattuso was the one who got the first touch for Milan and managed to help the team take some possession. Pirlo was the one who was seen in-form after many days as the "legendary" Italian was helping the team out by being the "old-school" Italian that he was during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
The home side player Angelo was booked right in the 3rd minute of the game after he fouled Clarence Seedorf and the Parma man went straight into the books for the late challenge. However, it was the Milan defender Antonini who found himself booked as well after his late challenge on Marques.
Milan were well organized at the back and even though the home team was trying to pass their way through to find a goal, Gattuso and Thiago Silva along with the legendary Nesta were a bit too much for the home team to go through and Milan totally gave a shut up call to Parma's attacking line.
However, during the 25th minute, Milan decided to change the cause of the game and during a counter attack the ball round Pirlo's feet. Pirlo looked to be deadly throughout the first 25 minutes and it was the moment when the Italian had to shine. Pirlo decided to cut in from the left flank and the legendary Italian simply blasted the ball in towards the goal and was able to score after Parma's goalkeeper was simply left stranded when the Italian managed to find the net.
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