Milan-Empoli: Maignan “architects” the punishment that leads to the goal

The last dangerous ball went to take him by arrogance: a high non-trivial exit in ’95, with Empoli throwing everything they could into the area to try to grab a draw. After all, that Mike Maignan has confidence in his own means is nothing new: indeed, if anything, an excess of confidence in this championship has cost Milan a victory in the away match in Salerno. Calculating the points earned and lost for merits / demerits of the goalkeeper is a fun game, but with few concrete bases: too many variables to consider to get a reliable figure. In the case of Maignan, however, it is clear that the balance hangs on the positive side: very rare are the occasions in which he negatively influenced the result, while those in which he was decisive for the Devil are frequent.

Multi-tasking

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Against Empoli, “Magic Mike” had a fairly quiet evening. As often happens to the goalkeepers of the big teams, he was called into question suddenly, after having limited himself to ordinary administration. And he did not betray: the dive to prevent the free-kick deflected by Luperto’s head from turning into 1-1 was remarkable for its reactivity and effectiveness. The 7 in the Gazzetta report card was won there. But it is not for this reason that Maignan has been talked about on social media, but for a curious scene that took place a few seconds before Kalulu’s goal: on the sidelines to quench his thirst, Mike found himself having a perfect view to give suggestions to the comrades who disturbed the barrier set up by Vicar. And he took on the role of the coach, remotely controlling the Rossoneri’s “counter-barrier”. The 1-0 did not come directly from Giroud’s free-kick, but Kalulu was awake and cold in magnetizing the ball and guessing the winning trajectory.

On the rise

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All material to make the AC Milan fans smile, increasingly on their honeymoon with their goalkeeper. And more than someone, obviously, has emphasized the contrast between the golden moment of the French in Italy and the momentaccio of the Italian in France, understood as Donnarumma. In reality, the majority of the Rossoneri fans do not seem to care too much about Gigio’s torments: there is much more to focus on, with Milan first in the standings and in the semi-finals of the Italian Cup. Here, perhaps the greatest merit of Maignan is precisely this: having offered such a constant and reliable return that Donnarumma slips very quickly among the memories of the past. There is no better way to suture a “love” wound than to forget and look forward.