AC Milan defeated lowly Livorno 3-0 at San Siro on Saturday afternoon in Serie A action.
The win means the Rossoneri remain in contention for Europa League qualification after extending their winning streak to five courtesy of Mario Balotelli’s first half header and Adel Taarabt’s early strike in the second before Giampaolo Pazzini rounded off the scoring with a late effort.
The hosts were the first to assert real pressure and their first chance came in the 10th minute when Kaka had his effort blocked from a promising position. Taarabt fired a long range effort just over Francesco Bardi’s crossbar just seconds later.
Livorno looked incapable of handling the Rossoneri as within a minute of Taarabt’s effort, Adil Rami managed to hit the crossbar with his header following a set piece situation.
Having kept Milan at bay, Leandro Greco fired wide for the visitors and Cristiano Piccini’s call for a penalty following a challenge from Nigel De Jong fell on deaf ears.
Despite Livorno’s brief foray into the Milan half it was the Rossoneri who continued to dominate. Bardi was sharp to block a Kevin Constant cut back from close range before both Balotelli and Kaka saw their efforts curl inches past the far post.
Milan were playing some fantastic football around the box and some fine interplay ended with Robinho being played in but his effort was deflected by a critical defensive block from Leandro Rinaudo.
Just three minutes before the break Milan would take a well deserved lead through Balotelli’s header from inside the six yard box following Kevin Constant’s precise cross from the left that left Bardi with no chance.
Within thirty seconds of half time Riccardo Montolivo forced Bardi into another diving save as the Rossoneri came out firing on all cylinders. The Rossoneri were playing at a higher tempo and they doubled the lead just moments later as Taarabt weaved his way through a number of defenders in the box before firing past Bardi from close range.
Christian Abbiati was finally forced into making his first save on 60 minutes as he comfortably handled Piccini’s low long range effort as Livorno began to struggle to stay in the game.
Bardi prevented a third Milan goal by crucially blocking Robinho’s cut back for the unmarked Balotelli inside the six yard area.
Milan continued to create and waste good opportunities through Kaka’s poor touch and Balotelli’s delay in shooting. Substitute Pazzini joined the list when he broke the offside trap only to see his attempted lob drift harmlessly over the net.
Pazzini would make amends moments later as he was once again played in by Balotelli and this time he was able to slot the ball under the onrushing Bardi to score just his second league goal of the season.
With the result secured, Milan began to sit back and Livorno came close to scoring a consolation goal but Ishak Belfodil’s effort was deflected past Abbiati’s near post as the game headed towards its conclusion.
