Milan survives a tough threat from Napoli

Napoli 0-0 Milan
Seria A 08-09 W29
Sunday March 22, 2009
San Paolo

Milan arrived at Naples expecting to put up a great show. The match was expected to be one-sided after the excellent form of Milan and their star players, after inflicting thrashings on Atalanta and Siena. However, things did not work as expected by Milan and were lucky to escape with a goalless draw.

The Sao Paolo stadium at Napoli was known for doing in giant teams. Nevertheless, only a few expected a similar thing to happen against Milan because of the terrific form of Inzaghi, Pato and a few others.

The match did not see many goal scoring opportunities on either sides of the pitch. Milan concentrated hard on their defense and midfield while Napoli counterattacked with their strong attacking play. The only close chance came when Napoli’s Marek Hamsik netted one past Milan’s goalkeeper. However, the goal was disallowed due to a wrong offside call.

Milan did not make even a single shot at the target during the full 90 minutes of play. It was a below par performance by the leading striker Inzaghi. Later during the day, Milan’s manager, Adriano Galliani expressed that he was more than just happy to go away with a single point from the hard fought draw.

Milan was rather lucky to escape from the determined Napoli. If it were not for the disallowed goal, Milan would have ended up on the other side of the table. Milan would look to cling on to the third spot with nine matches left to be played for the season.

The day ended on a negative note after a group of agitated Napoli fans attacked Galliani’s car that was stationed outside the Sao Paolo stadium.

Check out the highlights here:

First half highlights 0-0:

Second half highlights 0-0:

Milan thrashes Siena in a one sided battle

With Milan’s title hopes this season are all but over, both the club owner Berlusconi and its manager Ancelotti had earlier declared that the present goal is to qualify for next year’s Champions’ League. Milan proved their mettle and marched steadily towards the safe berth with a crushing win over struggling Siena.

Ac Milan, supported by an excellent show by the in-form Inzaghi and Pato, asserted supremacy with a 5-1 win against the 15th ranked side. The win was a major boost for the side, which is depleted of most of its star players due to injuries. The match saw the most awaited return of Ronaldinho and Kaka from their injuries.

Pirlo opened the scoring with a penalty in the 5th minute after Flamini was brought down by Kharja. Siena attempted to match Milan’s aggression with 2 shots the target in the 27th and 38th minutes. But it was Milan who sent in the second goal of the match when Inzaghi rolled it past Siena goalkeeper in the first half injury time.

Pato took the lead to 3-0 in the 54th minute with an incredible shot, 30 yards away from the goal. Inzaghi quickly followed it up with his second goal of the match, which was also his 300th career goal. Pato matched Inzaghi muscle for muscle and continued his excellent form with another goal in the 78th minute making it five goals for Milan. Except for Siena’s lone consolation goal in the 64th minute, Siena’s fans had nothing else to cheer or rejoice. It proved to be a completely lop sided affair for the home team.

Check out Goals and Highlights here: Read the rest of this entry »

It was good news for Ronaldinho’s fans as the star player is set to return to action to both his national side as well as his Italian club AC Milan. The news was conformed after Ronaldinho completed his first full practice session and passed his fitness test on Thursday.

It has been nearly a month since Ronaldinho played a full time match after injuring his heel last month. The last time his fans were able to have a glimpse of him in action was on February 15 when Milan lost 2-1 to city rivals Inter Milan.

Ronaldinho along with Beckham, who suffered a minor injury in his ankle during training, were expected to take the field on March 15 in the match against struggling Siena. However, Carlo Ancelotti, the manager of the third placed side, did not want to risk the striker’s injury and wanted him to recover completely. Ronaldinho took the field for a short period in the later part of the second half.

Though Ronaldinho’s fans were made to wait for his full return at Milan, the big news was that the Brazilian coach Dunga announced that both Ronaldinho and Kaka were in contention for their places at Brazil for the World Cup qualifiers. Dunga picked both the players, who were injured for a while, in his tentative squad. The squad featured other in-form players like Thiago Silva, Robinho and Alexandre Pato, making it an almost incredibly strong squad.

Although it was his repeated injuries that kept Ronaldinho out of Brazil’s recent matches against Portugal, Columbia and Venezuela, Dunga insisted that his place was hanging in balance in view of his poor form recently. Dunga also expressed that Ronaldinho should come out of his lean patch and improve his form to cement his place in the team.