The rossonere did not waste time to show they've bounced back from the loss in the Supercoppa as, in today's game against Hellas Verona, Milan did not only beat the gialloblu but also showed glimpses of exciting prospect for the future at least in the first half.
As expected, Ganz made a few, and somewhat surprising, changes in the starting eleven, replacing Grimshaw and Spinelli with Julia Simic and Francesca Vitale, as the lineup was Korenciova; Vitale, Fusetti, Agard; Bergamaschi, Simic, Jane, Boquete, Tucceri; Giacinti, Dowie. While the italian defender kept the defense a fortress as usual, the german midfielder added some flair and tactical intelligence that the rossonere had been missing for a while, always in control of the ball, dictating the pace of the game. Also, Milan's high press and fast passing combination gave them a lot more fluidity, which suits Natasha Dowie better than Giacinti, who struggled a bit this time.
At the 23nd minute, after a defensive mistake due to the aforementioned Milan's high press, Tucceri-Cimini found the english striker in the penalty area with a precise cross and the number 10 just had to direct the ball with a perfect header to notch her sixth goal in the competition, becoming the foreign player with the most goals in a season for AC Milan, surpassing icelandic striker and former number 10 Thorvalsdottir and slovenian midfielder Dominika Čonč, both with five goals last season, according to OptaPaolo.
The second half, though, was a bit of a concerner, because some of the problems from Chiavari came back as Simic, Dowie and Tucceri-Cimini got tired. This time, mister Ganz noticed that quickly and replaced them with Conc, Grimshaw and Mauri, which gave Milan back the much-needed physical strenght to regain the control of the game and keep the Hellas Verona's attack at bay for the remaining minutes. Salvatori-Rinaldi and Rizza also had a few minutes of play before the final whistle. It should be noted that if Milan had been a little more cynical inside the box, the score could have been way more higher as Grimshaw, Giacinti and even Jane lost very good chances.
Back in the game, back to winning ways and, last but not least, back to the clean sheets, the rossonere now have 30 points and, at least until tomorrow, are tied with the leader Juventus.
Image credits: acmilan.com
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