The Rossoneri go on the net after nine minutes, then 80 ‘of play, even sparkling Pioli immediately grabs Inter Milan with Napoli, Rome, Atalanta and Lazio
A goal by Brahim Diaz at the start of Milan is enough, defended with a pinch of anxiety in the final when Sampdoria poured into attack in search of a draw, to conquer Marassi and not lose contact with the big names (Inter, Naples, Rome, Atalanta and Lazio) victorious in the first league match. A sparkling match from the very beginning: the two teams face each other openly and on the 5th minute it was AC Milan who frightened Sampdoria with a high shot by Leao. It is the prelude to the Rossoneri advantage: at 8 ‘Calabria takes advantage of a serious uncertainty from Augello who gets the ball stolen, flies to the bottom and hits low for Diaz who makes no mistake, crossing with the right, a stone’s throw from Audero. Sampdoria reacts (Candreva’s treacherous diagonal just out in the 12th minute) but lends the side to AC Milan’s restart: in the 15th minute Giroud misses the doubling by a whisker. Still Sampdoria at 20 ‘, Maignan is careful on Gabbiadini. In the 25th minute Krunic fails to counter Audero’s short block after a shot from outside the box by Hernandez. The game remains open, Damsgaard and Quagliarella stand out in Sampdoria, while Diaz (frequently sought by his teammates) and Saelemaekers animate Milan’s attacks. In the 39th minute, after a long Rossoneri maneuver, Audero kept Sampdoria standing by saving the door on a close shot by Giroud.
In the second half, in the 52nd minute Maignan saves his foot from a close but slightly off-center shot by Gabbiadini. Milan replica in the 61st minute: captain Calabria lifts his left over the crossbar. Sampdoria tries to raise the pace (the median Ekdal-Thorsby is dynamic) but Quagliarella is caged by the excellent Rossoneri central couple Kjaer-Tomori and finds no space. At 68 ‘Pioli offers substance to the Milan midfielder by inserting Bennacer in place of the excellent Diaz.
Counter move Samp: D’Aversa sends Verre to the field for Gabbiadini, out and in tears due to injury. Florenzi’s debut at 80 ‘in Milan, Saelemaekers comes out. Sampdoria tries, defenders Colley and Yoshida also go up: corner kicks and some confused scrum in the Rossoneri area. So Pioli runs for cover at 88 ‘by inserting Romagnoli (in place of Calabria) to switch to the three-man defense. The move turns out to be spot on: Sampdoria no longer creates dangers and indeed it is Rebic, at the sunset of recovery, who touches the 0-2 with a right-footed shot. –