Milan-Salernitana 1-1: goals from Giroud and Dia

The Champions effect fades with the arrival of the rain. A solid and clever Salernitana stopped Milan on a 1-1 draw at San Siro, dragged along by three thousand fans and by Ochoa in World format, decisive several times. The Mexican exalts himself under water and neutralizes at least three clear opportunities. The story of the six fingers is a legend, but today, in a packed stadium and with the usual Zen calm, the one admired at every World Cup is back. Giroud gives Milan the lead, Dia catches him again in the second half, in one of the two shots on goal towards Maignan, who was also decisive.

MAIGNAN

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The first half is a festival of “blocked shots”. Salernitana raises the wall and Ochoa thanks: Daniliuc, but above all Pirola and Gyomber, sacrifice themselves several times to save the Mexican’s posts. Milan’s only chances come from lopsided shots from outside (Theo and Bennacer) and with a free-kick from the Algerian. Leao, left alone by Mazzocchi, tries to open the gas a couple of times, but it’s nothing. The manifesto of his match is a cross on the half hour into the corner, from a position congenial to him: the trocar. Sousa, fresh from a win and a draw without conceding a goal, tries to sting with the weapons he has: Mazzocchi’s acceleration and counter-attack. In the half hour Kastanos wastes with his left foot from a good position, but the most important chance comes to Dia, three minutes before Milan take the lead. Thiaw, the man of advances, perfect up to the error from two points down on the report card, stretches the ball backwards making fun of the tip. Here Maignan enters the scene, who saves the result with a great goalkeeper-free exit to the applause of San Siro. Solver even without parrying. Lucidity in calculating the action comes from the hat: Magic Mike places himself in front of Dia and orients his body to the left, blocking the attacker’s acceleration in the bud. Top player action.

GIROUD

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In the next action, with the Salernitans already thinking about Sousa’s speech, Giroud headed in an assist from Bennacer and made the 72 thousand at San Siro happy. Curiosity: the striker, on his eighth goal in Serie A, had already scored against Ochoa eleven years ago, in a 3-0 Montpellier-Ajaccio win in 2012. The season he won the title with the French. Here he is again, thirty-six years old and with the hunger of a little boy. That the former Arsenal player is still in the day, however, can be understood in the 28th minute, when he tries to enter the candidates for the 2023 Puskas Award with a volley from a corner kick. He who has already won in 2017. Appointment only postponed. The header is precious. Booked in the second half, he will miss Udinese-Milan on Saturday evening.

HERE DIA

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The rain in the second half affected the Rossoneri maneuver. Sousa immediately plays the Piatek card, ex on duty with 13 games and three goals under Pioli in 2019, but the draw is all from Dia, good at slipping into the hole left by the Rossoneri defense and stinging Maignan. Ninth goal in the league for the former Villarreal, but the mistake of the Rossoneri rearguard, surprised by a tense cross from Bradaric from the left, is a blue pencil. Kalulu squeezes, Thiaw doesn’t shorten and Dia slips between them. Pioli’s answer is a double substitution: Giroud out and a bewildered Leao, the worst of his, and the Ibra-Origi tandem inside. Result: tight spaces and short phrasing.

The episode

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Bennacer took advantage of it, who was pushed by Bradaric in the 70th minute and earned the penalty. The referee La Penna blows his whistle immediately, but after reviewing the action at the Var he goes back on what he said and denies the penalty. The contact is very light. In the final the two goalkeepers stand out once again: in the 75th minute Ochoa remembers having played yet another World Cup as a top player and denies Origi’s goal with a miracle with an open hand on the goal line. Maignan, on the other hand, saves on Piatek by neutralizing the gunslinger’s right from outside. Thus it ended, with yet another grenade block, this time on the goal line, and a tumult at the end of the game on the Milan bench. Salernitana snatches a golden point, while Pioli bites his nails nervously. Daniel Maldini’s assist, star performer against the nerazzurri in La Spezia, fell on deaf ears. Milan fourth behind Lazio and Inter, with just one point ahead of Roma.