After losing two games in a row, outing poor performances on both, Milan managed to grab a win against Empoli in their last Serie A game as Natasha Dowie found the back of the Tuscan’s net with a sweet assist from Vero.
The result consolidated the second place on the table for the rossonere, having 42 points in total and a comfortable 5 points advantage from third place Sassuolo. Dowie has now 10 league goals.
Here some thoughts on this game:
Back to 3-5-2
As has traditionally been the case this season, after a defeat, Maurizio Ganz tends to switch the team formation and, for this game, the tactician went back to the 3-5-2, with Vitale replacing the injured Spinelli, Agard and Fusetti in the back three, Rizza as right winger and Bergamaschi, on the left. This system has its flaws, but the rossonere manage to overcome it with great team work.
An incredibly talented midfield
For the first time, Milan had their most technical players all available as Jane and Vero both recovered from injuries. Against Empoli, they were in the initial XI alongside Hasegawa forming one of the strongest and most talented midfield trio Ganz could fielded. The result was a great number of chances created during the game that, unfortunately, the attacking duo were not able to convert.
Giacinti was not on her best day
Sure thing the captain fought, helped the them out, created spaces to both Vero and Hasegawa attack, however, once again, when things got difficult, she chose to try to solve things by herself and lost, at least, two clear clear goalscoring opportunities in the second half where instead of passing the ball to a better positioned teammate, opted to shoot.
Are the wing-backs an issue?
Tucceri-Cimini had a poor performance against Inter and was left on the bench for most of the yesterday’s game. Rizza struggled on both phases against Empoli and got subbed just 5 minutes after halftime break. Bergamaschi, who also had a poor outing against Inter, got the job done, but could have done a lot better as a left winger yesterday. The only winger who managed to have a good performance in yesterday’s game was Lidja Kulis, a midfielder who Ganz is trying to adapt due to the lack of players for that position.
Vero must play closer to the strikers
That’s something we’ve been pitching ever since Vero arrived. She has the skillset to lead Milan’s offensive actions with a great accuracy on her passes and a clinical finisher. Yesterday’s assist to Dowie proved, once more, that she thrives as a classic trequartista.
The Derby awaits!
Now it’s time to turn their attention to the next Serie A fixture, on Sunday 28, against city rivals Internazionale. While Milan arrive at this match with their confidence back up and running after beating Empoli, the nerazzurre lost one of the craziest Serie A game this season to Roma and they are only 8th on the stands, with 18 points.
Image credits: acmilan.com
