DEFEAT AT THE TARDINI
The Rossoneri were stunned by Parma on Serie A matchday 2 and fell to their first defeat of the season. Christian Pulisic equalised to cancel out Man's opener at the Tardini but Cancellieri restored the hosts' lead. There was a large slice of bad luck but also the odd error, especially early on as the Gialloblù scored a near-immediate goal. A subpar first 45 minutes forced AC Milan to chase the game against a strong and pacey Parma side, who sat deep and looked to hit the Diavolo on the break. The boys showed a much-improved approach after the break but the hosts' second goal took the wind out of their sails and there was to be no late fightback.
Unlike our league opener, the shock came early, and the Rossoneri's reaction wasn't enough to take a point in the debut of our new Third kit. It's a bitter pill to swallow but it shouldn't dampen our confidence in the process, which includes many new additions to the squad. Five changes were made to the starting line-up that took on Torino, including a first league appearance for Pavlović, who was impressive, and debuts off the bench for Emerson Royal and Fofana. We have another away day coming up soon as we go on the hunt for a first win in Serie A this season to overturn a rocky start. Dai ragazzi!
CHECK OUT THE GALLERY FROM PARMA v AC MILAN
MATCH REPORT
Difficulty from the start at the Tardini, after less than two minutes of play, Parma opened the scoring: Mihăilă to Valeri on the overlap who put in a low cross to Man in the centre, shooting past Maignan to make it 1-0. The Rossoneri reacted on impulse with little clarity as the Crociati remained compact and kept their spaces tight. Musah’s left-footed shot in the 22nd minute brought a spark ahead of the cooling break, and AC Milan lit around on the half-hour mark. Chaos in the box in the 30th minute as Okafor’s shot was stopped by Suzuki who then tipped a header from Pavlović over the bar moments later. Reijnders went on a run in the 32nd minute, another shot saved by Suzuki. Parma became dangerous once more on the counter towards the end of the half: Sohm struggled from a good position (42’), Pavlović made a brilliant tackle on Man in the box (44’) and Maignan saved a Mihăilă attempt in injury time. Half-time.
Good and decisive restart for AC Milan after the break. In the 47th minute, Reijnders unleashed a shot from a distance that smacked the crossbar, whilst in the 50th minute, Pulisic swapped with the Dutch international to volley a shot that Suzuki would stop. Parma sat back and tried to attack on the break, Bonny crossed for Man whose turning shot whistled past the post in the 62nd minute. In the 66th minute, the Rossoneri equalised: Leão and Hernández linked up on the left and the Portuguese put in a pass for Pulisic who managed to tap it home from close range, 1-1. The level footing didn’t last long as the hosts exploited another counterattack in the 77th minute to take back the lead thanks to the Almqvist-Cancellieri link, the former provided the assist and the latter scored to make it 2-1. The last-minute wave of attacks didn’t bring anything for the Diavolo, the Rossoneri didn’t hold back but also didn’t manage to create any real threats for Suzuki. Full-time.
MATCH DETAILS
PARMA 2-1 AC MILAN
PARMA (4-2-3-1): Suzuki; Coulibaly, Balogh, Circati, Valeri; Sohm (59' Cancellieri), Estévez (74' Cyprien); Man (74' Almqvist), Bernabé, Mihăilă (70' Del Prato); Bonny. Subs: Chichizola, Corvi; Camara, Hainaut; Haj, Kowalski, Mikołajewski. Coach: Pecchia.
AC MILAN (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria (67' E. Royal), Tomori, Pavlović, Hernández; Musah (67' Fofana), Reijnders; Pulisic (86' Chukwueze), Loftus-Cheek, Leão; Okafor (86' Jović). Subs: Raveyre, Torriani; Gabbia, Terracciano, Thiaw; Bennacer, Saelemaekers. Coach: Fonseca.
Referee: Sacchi from Macerata.
Goals: 2' Man (P), 66' Pulisic (M), 77' Cancellieri (P).
Booked: 34' Pavlović (M), 88' E. Royal (M), 90'+2 Loftus-Cheek (M).
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