A win! Oh, what a glorious sight for all Milanisti to observe. Sassuolo defeated, Sinisa Mihajlovic triumphant and all with a 16-year-old in goal. Have AC Milan finally turned a corner asks George Rinaldi.
It gives me great pleasure to write about a 2-1 Rossoneri victory over the Neroverdi, having recently barraged everyone regarding their defensive woes and midfield madness. Three points tucked away in Sinisa Mihajlovic’s pocket for the first time since defeating Udinese away from home on September 22, a whole month ago.
Coach Mihajlovic changed a handful of things to note, including a start for Gianluigi Donnarumma in between the sticks. Born in 1999, the Italian has worked his way up the rankings at Milan, obtaining his first start on Sunday in replace of Diego Lopez, becoming the youngest ever goalkeeper to have played in Serie A.
The youngster played out a very mature performance against Sassuolo and even Diego Lopez handed out his congratulations to Donnarumma despite losing his place, saying: “I thought Donnarumma played well. He is a great guy and is the future of Milan and Italian football.”
It proved a worthy change from having Spaniard Lopez in goal, but it wasn’t the only gamble that paid off for Mihajlovic. He elected to keep the same backline as the one that drew with Torino and it paid dividends with strong performances from Alessio Romagnoli and Luca Antonelli.
The former managed his partnership with Alex well, bringing his speed into the game when the Brazilian wasn’t able to track runs as much as he would have wished. The latter, on the other hand, provided some much needed width to Milan and was excellent in his forward runs and tracking back. It was a welcome relief to those at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza considering on the other side, one owned by Ignazio Abate, the best thing he accomplished was gaining a yellow card to his name.
As for the strikers, their partnership was finally something to admire. Carlos Bacca again found the scoresheet, but that has become expected of the former Sevilla striker. Luis Adriano was the main attraction however. The Brazilian snatched the winner with a well-timed header, and managed to get more out of his attacking compatriot Bacca. The latter mentioned 28-year-old however, is still yet to set Milano alight. Considering his healthy goal record at Shakhtar Donetsk, there’s plenty more to be improved on, and he must continue his goalscoring form as soon as possible.
Progression is something Milan must secure, even if the support remain disheartened by what has gone on. Mihajlovic later defended the Milanisti, stating: “they were right to boos us.” Never mind the boos, or the discontent, the Rossoneri are finally finding their feet.
