Serie A-Match Review: AC Milan versus Lecce
A.C Milan kicked off their Serie A challenge with an overwhelming four goals to nil win over Lecce at the San Siro. In doing so, the Italian giants and seven time European Cup winners gave a warning call to the rest of the contenders for the Scudetto, signaling that they mean business this season.
Milan took some transfer speculation with them into the match as the Rossoneri were in talks with Barcelona and ex-Inter Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic but the players in red and black did not let off-the-field matters cloud their performance in any way. Milan’s opponents, Lecce started with the likes of Giulio Donati and Simone Sini in central defence whilst Guillermo Giacomazzi and Djamel Mesbah adopted their roles in midfield. In attack for Lecce, Daniele Corvia tried his best as the lonely striker upfront.
For Milan, Pato started in attack alongside Marco Boriello. In midfield for the Italian giants, Seedorf, Ambrosini, Ronaldinho and Pirlo were tasked with pulling the strings in the centre of the park. In the typical Italian defence, Nesta took his usual central berth alongside the young Brazilian defender Thiago Silva. At the left back spot, Antonini made his first appearance of the season for Milan whereas Bonera played as the right wing back for the former Italian champions.
A.C Milan totally dominated the game and got their first goal in the 16th minute of the match through their prolific youngster Pato. However, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic watching from the stands during the first ever Serie A encounter of the season for the Rossoneri, Ronaldinho was the star of the match regardless of the fact that he failed to score himself. The Brazilian playmaker turned back the years and defied all his critics, who had termed him as overweight and unfit before the start of the season. Ronaldinho was at the centre of everything for Milan, he was directing the attacking traffic through midfield.
Ronaldinho got the assist for Milan’s second goal of the match which came in the 23rd minute of the first half as he took the corner kick which eventually was finished off by Silva by putting the ball into the back of Lecce’s net. The 30-year old Brazilian was again showcasing his artistic self as he played a finely timed through pass to Pato, who got his second goal of the match in the 28th minute. Pato’s second took the score line to three nil in favour of Milan as Massimiliano Allegri’s team showed that there was a vast gulf in class between the two Italian outfits.
The final goal of the match came in the dying minutes of the second half as the veteran striker Filippo Inzaghi sealed Milan’s victory after putting the ball in the back of the net via Antonio Rosati’s legs. Pato was also on fire during the match and his pace combined with Ronaldinho’s vision became a real worry for Lecce during both halves of the match.
Milan apparently eased off in the second half as their aging stars looked to conserve energy. However, Milan almost scored in the 60th minute of the match but Marco Boriello’s chipped finish was ruled out as the striker was in an off-side position when the ball was passed to him. Despite having more of the ball in the second half, Lecce lacked the attacking approach which would have led them to parity in the match. The Italian minnows did get into some good positions during the match but all throughout, their final pass was absent which signaled that they were without the cutting edge.
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