Milan thanks Leao and Tonali: 2-1 in Salerno, but what thrills in the final

by our correspondent Luca Bianchin

January 4th
– Salerno

2023, from the first indications, is the little brother of 2022. Milan win 2-1 in Salerno with goals from Rafa Leao and Sandro Tonali, probably the best on the pitch. For Salernitana, Federico Bonazzoli, who came on in the second half. Not three new things here. However, Salernitana-Milan was a strange match, with many spaces, many chances, a terrible Salernitana in the first half and even beyond, Giroud missing a couple of goals. Not all predictable. Oh, by the way, Ochoa was straight away the best. He made lots of normal saves and a special goalkeeper’s double save: deflection on Giroud and De Ketelaere a minute before Bonazzoli’s goal. In the end, to please, he did the phenomenon twice, the last one again on CDK. Thus Milan rises to -5 from Naples and gets in front of the TV for the long Wednesday of the championship.

i gol

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Goals are told quickly. Milan scored early, in the first quarter of an hour. Minute 10: Tonali finds Leao in depth, Rafa jumps Ochoa and puts on goal. Minute 15: Leao, always him, jumps Radovanovic and crosses, on the rejected Sambia passes to… Tonali who kicks twice. Ochoa blocked his first shot but on the second, kindly offered by Brahim Diaz, he turned to collect the ball on goal. Bonazzoli’s 2-1, in the 38th minute of the second half, was a deflection in front of Saelemaekers – late – from a cross from Lassana Coulibaly.

milan ups and downs

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Milan dominated the first half, in which they could have scored 5-6 times, and struggled more in the second, probably due to tiredness, changes, above all lack of cynicism. Ochoa in the first 10 minutes rejected a shot on the counterattack by Leao, generated by a Giroud-Brahim Diaz combination, and at 2-0 said no to Diaz and Giroud in four minutes. After the interval, however, Giroud wasted two goals that he usually holes and the match went crazy. Fourneau canceled a goal by Tomori for offside by Diaz, then sent off Bradaric and canceled the red light after being called to the monitor by the Var. In all of this, De Ketelaere alternated good plays with a couple of bad figures in the area: Leao he put him on goal twice but Charles didn’t kick first, then didn’t attack the goal. However, the good news remains: he kicked on goal more in Salerno than in the autumn months. Rafa on the other hand turned it on and off, he looked too much for the effect play but confirmed that he is a different player, inspired, elegant, too superior in terms of level. At the last minute he complained about a physical problem, which doesn’t seem serious but he would rob Pioli of sleep.

Nicola is looking for owners

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Salernitana, on the other hand, resumes with the certainty of having to do more. In the final she dreamed of a 2-2 draw but in the first half she was largely insufficient: she tried to attack but always let Milan play and got into trouble in many one-on-ones, above all those with Leao as the protagonist. Radovanovic was left on the spot in the action of the second goal, Lovato went into crisis and risked the mistake of the year – after all, it has only just begun – in the center of the area. Slow defense, struggling midfield, long Ochoa and Dia as the only positive references. The changes helped a bit but Nicola knows he has to recover Mazzocchi, Candreva and Maggiore. Pioli and the AC Milan fans, on the other hand, are awaited by a strange evening exercise: having to cheer for Inter.