Milan does not stop: Giroud and Leao sink Rome. Spinazzola is not enough for Mou

Milan scores full, Roma still remains dry. With Giroud and Leao signing the third Rossoneri victory and the first for Lukaku which is not enough to put a smile back on Mourinho. That the match actually goes to play only in the last half hour, when Tomori’s expulsion completely changes the cards on the table. Up to that moment, in fact, there hadn’t been a match, with Milan much better than Roma in all game situations. Spinazzola’s final goal then tried to give life to the Giallorossi’s hopes, but in vain.

Rossoneri domination

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Already without Dybala, Mou must also give up Pellegrini, at least initially, out due to muscle fatigue. Lukaku, on the other hand, is there and goes on the bench, also to excite the environment. On the other hand, however, Pioli confirms the team that started with sparks, between Bologna and Turin. The result was a game completely managed by Milan, which also had the advantage of passing immediately with a penalty from Giroud (clear foul by Rui Patricio on the percussion of Loftus-Cheek). Mou applauds the referees in a polemical way, Pioli silences him with his finger and he replies with gestures. The fact is that on the wings there is an at times embarrassing mismatch, with Celik having a headache from chasing Leao and Hernandez and Zalewski who often struggles on Pulisic. Also because Pioli’s move is to centralize Calabria almost as an added halfback and to raise Loftus-Cheeek as much as possible, in order to free up the wing for Pulisic’s one-on-ones against Zalewski himself. Mourinho, on the other hand, has set up a more compact midfield with Paredes and Cristante, also because the center of gravity is low and the meters to cover for the Argentine are less than in Verona. After 29′, however, the Portuguese also loses Aouar to a muscle problem (in Pellegrini) and then comes out a Roma that is never aggressive and never proactive, who shoots on goal for the first time in the 47th minute (El Shaarawy out of bounds) and who ends the first half with 30% ball possession and a sequence of 9 shots to one for Milan. That he had also had the goal to double, with Rui Patricio this time prodigious on Pulisic from close range. Pioli’s team dribbles well and when he succeeds he also goes inside, with Tomori and Thiaw behind who leave the crumbs to Belotti and El Shaarawy.

red and yellow breath

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Not even the time to restart that Milan is 2-0 up: cross from Calabria and magic from Leao in acrobatics, also thanks to the embarrassing marking (euphemism) from Celik. Then Loftus-Cheek even goes close to 3-0, Roma look for an angry reaction and after a while (16′) also try to turn the game around, with Tomori’s red light (double yellow card) for a foul on Belotti. Kalulu goes inside first and Pobega then, Mou responds with Lukaku, Bove and Spinazzola. So it’s up to Pulisic to give balance to Milan, who divides himself between the role of midfielder and full-back as long as he has enough to help and divide himself into the double task. So El Shaarawy tries first (saved), then Lukaku (slightly high) and finally Spinazzola (still high), without ever finding the goal though. Also because in the meantime Pioli has put in fresh energy with Okafor and Chukwueze, even if the numerical inferiority is felt all right. However, Roma’s reaction was more angry than reasoned and Spinazzola’s goal also arrived in full recovery, with a decisive deviation from Kalulu. The last hope is a Zalewski shot deflected for a corner. Then it’s a red and black party.