AC Milan recorded an important 2-0 victory over Juventus at San Siro on Saturday, with Fikayo Tomori and Brahim Diaz making the changes to the scoreline either side of the halftime break. It was a glorious moment in what is now the final stage in the life of the iconic stadium, set for demolition in 2026.
Fikayo Tomori
Tomori has been criticized for his performances this season, particularly for the one in the 3-0 defeat to his former club Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League earlier in the week, and apart from his defensive contribution to this triumph – his main job, obviously – the goal he scored to break the deadlock will surely have come as a great boost in confidence for the 24-year-old.
Some may say that he was lucky in that situation, but nobody can dispute the fact that it took a great presence of mind, not to mention a striker’s instinct, to react that way when the shot by Olivier Giroud hit him on the edge of six yards.
Be that as it may, it was certainly a moment to remember for the defender whose prime years are still some way ahead. He may have played badly against Chelsea, but the day when the London Blues regret letting him go is likely to come soon.
Brahim Diaz
Diaz had a fine game too and like Tomori, found himself on the scoresheet after showing focus and taking advantage of a notably fortunate moment when Juventus striker Arkadiusz Milik failed to understand the pass from his partner upfront Dusan Vlahovic. Taking the ball forward, he left a player like Leonardo Bonucci for a lamp post as he rushed passed, before slamming into Wojciech Szczesny’s goal.
Diaz is still a Real Madrid loanee, and his future is yet to be decided. Milan are believed to have the option to make the deal permanent at the end of the season and their decision on it is reportedly still to be made. As for Diaz himself, he says he’s happy at San Siro at the moment, and that should hardly come as a surprise.
His qualities – pace, skill on the ball and creativity, as well as ability to score stunners, is exactly what Stefano Pioli’s team need behind a striker, whether it’s Giroud, Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Divock Origi, as opposed to Real Madrid who are well stocked with players like that and are said to be preparing to spend big on Jude Bellingham of Borussia Dortmund next summer too. As things stand at the moment, it makes very little sense for Diaz to even contemplate going back to the Spanish capital. At Milan, he has everything he needs to become a truly great player.
Juventus problems
It can’t really be said that Juventus played this game badly, at least not individually. There were a few questionable moments from one or two players, perhaps, but every team has those in almost every game, it was nothing out of the ordinary.
The one thing that did stick out when watching them play was the fact that they sorely missed a creative player. Whether on one of the attacking flanks or in the middle of the park, they just didn’t have one anywhere.
Coach Massimiliano Allegri couldn’t call upon Angel Di Maria, who served the second of the three matches of suspension he earned as a consequence of the red card received in the shocking defeat to Monza before the international break. Federico Chiesa is still out with a long-term knee injury, as is Paul Pogba. Chiesa is said to be close to returning to action and that’s something Allegri will anxiously be looking forward to at this point.
Had these three players been available and named to start, we’d surely have seen a different showing from the Old Lady. As it was, they struggled to create chances, and though there were one or two moments when they looked like they could score, Milik and Vlahovic seemed completely cut off from the rest and unable to cause much harm for most of the match.
Manuel Locatelli and Adrien Rabiot are good players in their own element, but creativity isn’t one of them for either.
Allegri tried to shake things up with introducing the likes of Fabio Miretti, Weston McKennie and Leandro Paredes in the second half, to no real effect except that Paredes managed to create a few moments of tension between the teams late on, when the contest was already decided.
The aftermath
Quite apart from the great rivalry between these clubs, two of the three most successful ones in the Italian game, the result has increased the gap between them in the Serie A table and while keeping one firmly in the title race, it plunged the other down so much that it’s hard to imagine them getting back into contention this term.
The Juventus board will surely be considering the steps they need to take to get back on course, and while Allegri recently played down the speculations that his job might be in danger, a change in the dugout is surely one of the things being discussed right now. On Sunday afternoon, league leaders Napoli travel to face Cremonese, and if they win, the gap between them and the Bianconeri will climb to 10 points. Atalanta are mathematically in the same place as Napoli, though their trip to the in-form Udinese is likely to prove a more serious challenge.
As for Milan, this win has taken them up to the same tally as the top two before their respective games on Sunday, end helped them keep the pressure on both as they strive to overtake them.
All in all, it was a great day at the office for the seven-time European champions.
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