Updated27. January 2024, 8:41 p.m.
Football: Juventus and AC Milan stumble in Serie A
After respectively five and four successes in a row in Serie A, the Old Lady and the Rossoneri shared the points this Saturday, against Empoli (1-1) and Bologna (2-2).
Filip Kostic and his Juventus teammates were forced to a draw by Empoli on Saturday in Serie A.
AFP
Juventus Turin and AC Milan fell from a height: while they respectively remained on five and four victories in a row in Serie A, they were neutralized at home by Empoli (1-1) and Bologna (2-2) , SATURDAY.
What if the turning point of the 2023-24 Italian Championship had already taken place, a week before the 23rd day and its incandescent “Italian derby” between Inter and Juve at San Siro? Juve remains in the lead with two points ahead of Inter, but the Bianconeri missed the opportunity to take off. They can even be dislodged from first place on Sunday evening in the event of success for the Milanese (who have played two fewer matches) on the field of Fiorentina (5th).
Without Adrien Rabiot or Federico Chiesa, spared for the second consecutive match, Massilimiano Allegri’s men were manhandled in the first period by Empoli, who twice came up against Wojciech Szczesny. The exclusion of the Pole Arkadiusz Milik in the 18th minute, for a violent tackle on Alberto Cerri after having missed his control, admittedly stunned them.
Vlahovic tempts the form
Returning from the locker room, the Bianconeri put the dots on the i’s thanks to Vlahovic: taking advantage of a ball poorly cleared by the Tuscan defense, the Serbian striker scored in the 50th minute his sixth goal in four league matches played in January. But just as they seemed to have definitely gained the upper hand, Juve were surprised in the 70th minute by a long shot from Tommaso Baldanzi.
“We had a good match,” insisted Allegri on the DAZN platform. We tried to win even though we were reduced to 10 men after a quarter of an hour. It’s football, it complicates our ambitions a little, but it’s not possible to win every match.” “This loser should not make us lower our heads. Our goal still remains to finish in the top 4, Inter remains the strongest team in our championship,” he insisted.
Cascading penalties between AC Milan and Bologna
One exclusion, three penalties, including two missed, and four goals: the duel between AC Milan – with Noah Okafor replacing at kick-off and entering in the 86th minute – and Michel Aebischer’s Bologna (replaced in the 66th) and Remo Freuler, still without Dan Ndoye (injured in the right thigh), kept all his promises.
It was first of all an opportunity for the two teams to make a strong gesture against discrimination and in support of Mike Maignan, the target of racist insults and monkey cries last Saturday in Udine. In the 16th minute, in reference to the jersey number of the goalkeeper of the France team, the players stopped playing to applaud the San Siro spectators who, at the call of AC Milan and in front of a message from Martin Luther King displayed on the giant screen of the stadium, turned on the flashlights of their cell phones.
Bologna took the lead thanks to Joshua Ziksee, before the first drama: a penalty whistled for AC Milan which will relaunch the permanent debate on refereeing in Italy and which made the Bologna coach explode with anger , Thiago Motta, excluded. Olivier Giroud missed his attempt, but AC Milan equalized through Ruben Loftus-Cheek just before the break.
In the second half, Théo Hernandez also missed a penalty for AC Milan, who took the lead through Loftus-Cheek, before Bologna equalized in added time from… a penalty.
AC Milan remains 3rd with 46 points, far behind Juventus (53 points) and Inter (51 points), while Bologna is 7th (33rd).
Atalanta goes fourth
At the start of the afternoon, Atalanta took 4th place by dominating Udinese (2-0). The Bergamasques signed their fifth consecutive victory at home thanks to goals from Aleksei Miranchuk (33rd) and Gianluca Scamacca (45th+1), silent since the beginning of November.
Atalanta has a total of 36 points, two points ahead of Fiorentina (5th) which hosts Inter Milan on Sunday evening. The podium, however, seems inaccessible: AC Milan, 3rd, has 46 points.
(AFP)