Chapter 441: A Good Ball (Part II)
Moussis' tough performance after coming on the pitch made the Torino players feel a strong sense of security, which made Belotti dare to put more energy into the attacking end without worrying too much about the defensive end. And it was this psychology that made the two sides who were originally wary of each other change in choice in the next few minutes, and the Red Bulls, who gave it a go, soon knocked on the opponent's door again with a more focused offensive mentality.
In the 69th minute, after Bolti's cross was headed out by Leonardo Bonucci, AC Milan immediately began to organise an attack, but fearing that their own defense would be attacked by the home team's counter-attack, the wing-backs on both sides and the central midfielder Kessie did not press the half. Turin, who had the numerical advantage in the half-time area, struggled to defend and quickly recovered possession and sent the ball to the visitors' dangerous edge of the box after a couple of passes.
Although the Milan players heavily defended the hinterland of their own penalty area, there were still some loopholes in the passive defense, and Immobile found an opportunity to retreat from the perimeter less than 20 meters from the goal. The power and angle of the shot was excellent, and it still made its way through the gap between Kessie and Locatelli, causing quite a visual distraction for the goalkeeper. Fortunately, Donnarumma was also in good form today, with a flying sideways pounce to keep the ball out.
However, in a hurry, the world's best goalkeeper, who was hailed as the best goalkeeper for the next decade, failed to send the ball out of the danger zone, and chaos ensued in front of the Milan goal. In the race for the second spot, it was Belotti who was closer in the end who succeeded. He made a slight adjustment on the edge of the six-yard box, shook off Bonucci with a flying tackle, and then swung his right leg to make a follow-up shot, but Zapata, who arrived in time, barely managed to keep the ball out of the line with his right foot, finally allowing the visiting supporters, who were holding their breath when they saw Immobile's long-range shot, to breathe.
But who didn't expect that the Torino team used the subsequent corner kick to rewrite the score again. Benassi teed the ball from the left to the front post and Silvestri was the big winner, heading the ball into the net at the near post from three yards. In the face of such a strong header from close range, Donnarumma made a flying save, but he couldn't stop anything at all, and could only complain about the lack of strength of his teammates, while helplessly watching the home team players celebrate wildly.
2-1, the Red Bulls finally took the lead in the second half for the second time with their tenacious fighting spirit, and completely ignited the entire Olympic Stadium.
This is where the home advantage is revealed, and the high-decibel cheering will put great pressure on the psychology of the visiting players, except for a few superstars who are strong enough inside, everyone else will have more or less emotional fluctuations, which will affect their judgment and the handling of technical actions.
No, after the restart, the visiting centre-forward Kalinic made an uncool move in a confrontation with Barceli when he was brought to the ground by the Torino midfielder as he dribbled the ball. As a victim, he only had to wait for the referee's decision, but the Croatian, who had a bad performance today, took the initiative to push Barcelona after getting up quickly, and at the same time made accusations unrelentingly, which caused boos from the home fans.
In the end, the two men were each given a yellow card, and Gattuso immediately replaced the already emotionally out-of-control Kalinic with teenager Cutrone, preventing the latter from acting irrationally again. Three minutes later, both teams made changes at the same time, with Tulalang coming on for Benassi and Andre Silva for Suso.
The home side maintained a 3-5-2 position, but the midfield used two defensive-minded players who showed signs of holding on to the win. AC Milan, on the other hand, has adopted a two-centre-forward tactic and the formation has changed to 4-4-2, but Borini's position is very forward, and he will also rush to the front line to act as a winger when attacking. But with Biglia and Suso off the pitch, the team's playmaking responsibilities were all on the shoulders of 20-year-old Locatelli.
The clarity of the target made it easier for Torino to defend, and with several attacks by the Rossoneri failing to achieve their goals, Gattuso had to speed up the pace of the ball in the hope that the Torino defence would slip through at high speed.
In the 79th minute, Cutrone was intercepted for a breakthrough with the ball in front, he thought he had been fouled, and loudly vented his frustration to referee Maresca, and received a yellow card. In retrospect, in one of the home team's attacks, Baseli broke through the middle and fell to the ground, and also did not get a response to the whistle that interrupted the game. However, Immobile seized the moment when the opposing player was stunned, and volleyed a powerful left-footed volley into the upper right corner of the goal from 24 meters in front of the goal, which was bravely blocked by Donnarumma. The difference in mentality between the players of the two teams almost killed the suspense of the game.
In the 85th minute, Tulalang, who had just been on the field for a short time, was pushed to the right rib by the "black and hard" Kessie in a physical confrontation, and had to leave the field for treatment because of the unbearable pain. The visitors, who had a chance to play more and less for the time being, immediately created a clever attack, Kessie sent a through ball from the right flank, Cutrone cut forward on the right side of the box, and his diagonal shot from 11 yards was saved by Cassie. It was a powerful strike, and if the Torino goalkeeper had been a little slower to react by half a beat, the outcome would have been difficult to predict.
The goalkeepers on both sides played at a very high level today, and just three minutes after the old-timers showed their talents, the young Donnarumma responded in time. Locatelli brought down Bareka and gave the home team a well-placed free-kick after receiving a yellow card, and Baseli quickly played a short pass to the left, Bareka changed direction and shook Abarth before bursting into the box, sending a cross close to the ground with an unstable center of gravity, and the Milan penalty area suddenly became chaotic.
The ball came to the penalty spot after two lines on the player's leg, and Diego Llorente, who was there was a little caught off guard and slipped with his left foot on the ground, but he managed to make a shot before he fell to the ground. The unconventional stab unexpectedly unexpectedly hit a lot of power, and the direction of the flight was extremely tricky, but Donnarumma once again used his strong reflexes to make a save, poking the ball out of the post with the tip of his left finger. There is no doubt that this is another miracle pounce!
The successive "possession of the gods" by the goalkeepers of both sides made this wonderful duel begin to develop in the direction of classics, and the event that sealed the coffin appeared in the last minute of injury time, which made the fans who watched the live broadcast of the game addicted.
In the 93rd minute, AC Milan, who had completely abandoned the defense, launched a final desperate fight, and left-back Ricardo Rodriguez brought the forward assist to the front, which was intercepted by Silvestri with a flying tackle. And immediately after the Turin right wingman fell to the ground, he covered his left thigh muscle with his hand, signaling that he was cramping and had a painful expression on his face. However, the referee decided that his tackle was a dangerous move, took out the second yellow card that the latter received in the game, and sent him off the field. The Red Bulls had to settle for 10 men in the final minute of the game.
The home team naturally had some objections to this blowing penalty, but when they saw that the Milan players seemed to be planning to take a free kick quickly, all the players calmed down in time and hurried back to the penalty area to deploy defense. However, this attack, which was launched in the countdown stage, almost changed the outcome of the game, and it is amazing to see the subtlety of football.
Faced with all ten home team players on the field, AC Milan also chose to give it their all in a desperate bet, and even goalkeeper Donnarumma rushed to the opponent's penalty area to fight for the landing spot, which put huge pressure on Torino's defense.
After the kick-off whistle blew, Bonaventura hoisted the ball high in front of the home goal, and Ranocchia headed it away before everyone else, and the ball was pushed out of the box and into the corner of the box on the right side of the attacker. Abate, who was there, got the second spot, and since almost all the defenders were still in the box, there was no interference from his side for at least three metres when he got the ball.
The Milan captain before Bonucci's arrival was not known for his ability to shoot, but his style was clearly in excellent form today, and Abate picked up his right foot to unload the ball without going well, and the ball cut a beautiful arc into the far corner of the net.
Casillas did not dare to slack off in the face of this fast, powerful spin and a bouncing attack in front of him, and he flew to the right with all his strength, and the arms and fingertips of the outstretched arms were tensed, but he failed to touch the ball as he wished. Fortunately, the column behind him stood up at this critical moment to share his worries, although the ball dodged the gloves of the Torino goalkeeper, but failed to pass the goalpost, and flew straight out of the bottom line after hitting the door frame, causing the more than 20,000 spectators who were watching the game to burst into a huge sigh.
Abate, who missed the world wave, and his teammates both had very regretful expressions on their faces, but they were powerless to change the fate of the goal.
The whistle for the end of the game sounded when Cutrone chased the ball from the caddy, quickly placed it on the home team's six-yard penalty line, and urged Cassie to take the goal kick as soon as possible. In the end, the Torino team at home defeated the traditional giants AC Milan in a close match, maintaining the unbeaten record in the last three meetings between the two sides, and further consolidating the third place in the standings.
And this strong dialogue, which combined major mistakes, world waves, fierce confrontations, almost lore, a large number of fouls and red cards and other factors, has also become a rare classic game in Serie A this season, and has been hotly discussed by many fans and reported by the media after the game.
It's just that as the losing side, Gattuso's mood will definitely look a little bad. With Lazio and Fiorentina tied 3-3 in the other match that ended at the same time, the Rossoneri were unable to close the five-point gap to the Nerazzurri and squandered a chance to pursue the Blues. Atalanta and Sampdoria both won this round and are two points away from AC Milan, and the pressure to qualify for next season's Europa League has become even stronger.
In his post-match press conference, the Milan boss expressed his frustration with his team's repeated chances wasted and felt they kept making the same mistakes all the time. 'We had a bit of a fitness problem in the last 20 to 25 minutes and the fatigue caused the players to be distracted in terms of movement and conceded the second goal. But until then, we had a chance to score first and take the initiative on the pitch, which has been the case for some time in the past. ”
'Of course, Torino wasted a lot of chances today, they played a good game and deserved to win the three points. But we have to be clear about where we need to improve, and this season we have lost so many points that we shouldn't have lost, which has made us struggle in the race for European qualification. But we will continue to work together to fight for Europe and if we can adjust to the next five league games, then there is hope. ”
It was only not long after the game that a number of local Italian media such as "La Repubblica" and "Torino Sport" broke the news that AC Milan FC would be subject to a hefty fine by UEFA, which made the Rossoneri soldiers who had just ushered in a defeat suffer another blow.
As early as the beginning of April, France's "Team Daily" broke the news that UEFA will conduct a key investigation on Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan and AC Milan in the near future according to the principle of financial fair play. The Rossoneri have a clear "transfer deficit" due to the spending of more than 200 million euros last summer, but because the club has just undergone the stage of restructuring assets and changing new owners, it is stipulated that it can apply to UEFA for a three-year waiver period, as long as it is not in the form of loans.
However, "Brother Li" has been frequently exposed to have suffered a serious financial crisis since last autumn, and then it was revealed that he borrowed money from the American Elliott's foundation in order to cover the club's necessary expenses, which has attracted the attention of UEFA, because this situation can already be regarded as borrowing and spending. A large part of the money he spent last year to buy the club came from hedge funds, and if he can't repay the astronomical sum of more than 300 million euros in time, "Brother Li" will have to be swept away.
And if UEFA ultimately decides that they have breached the principles of financial fairness, the Rossoneri could face heavy penalties not only to pay a hefty fine, but also to be forced to cut back on spending and dismantle the squad they just put together last year, with the Italian giants clearly in a major crisis.
Fortunately, the Milan club responded in a timely manner, saying that it would send an envoy to UEFA headquarters the next day for talks to try to reach a settlement agreement that would limit the punishment to fines, rather than having to sell any players in a non-voluntarial way.
Later, the newspaper Torino Sport also issued a report, believing that AC Milan would assure UEFA that if something goes wrong with the club's current owner, Li Yonghong, the trustee Elliott will also support the club. This almost means that "Brother Li" has lost the hearts and minds of the club, and it is likely that he will be forced to hand over the ownership of the club that he has just started for a year.
While feeling unfortunate for his teammates, Li Mudi also reconsidered his future plans to buy the club, hoping to avoid the same fate.
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