Five things we learnt from AC Milan-Napoli match
May the better Mohawk win
Napoli doused what seemed like a rejuvenated Milan side over the weekend, courtesy of an early goal from Uruguayan center back Miguel Britos and a 54th-minute strike from new boy Gonzalo Higuain in a game that saw Super Mario Balotelli miss from the spot for the first time in his career. While most Milan fans were disappointed with the result, there were some reasons to look forward to.
1. Balotelli is human: When Mario Balotelli went down in the box at the turn of the hour, every single Milan fan thought that the Milanese side were back in the game. Alas, it was not to be. Suddenly, Super Mario didn’t seem so super anymore. It wasn’t that the pressure got to him or anything, it’s just that his long standing tactic of waiting for the keeper to make his move didn’t exactly pan out because Reina just wasn’t going to budge until Balotelli struck the ball.
2. The Napoli front line is the strongest in the league: With the pace and skill of young Insigne combined with the sheer goal scoring instinct of Gonazalo Higuain, Napoli now have one of, if not the most, potent offence in the league. Napoli always seemed threatening on the counter and gave the very porous Milan defense a run for their money. This young duo combined with Marek Hamsik are sure to be one of the best tridents in European football this season.
3. Andrea Poli is the real deal: Anyone who saw the game on Sunday would tell you that if any Milan player deserved to win on the night, it was the young central midfielder who ran from the first minute till the second he was subbed off the field. The former Sampdoria man attacked relentlessly and tracked back with unreal zeal and proved to be a key factor in the sudden hike in Milan’s creativity and industry in this game. Expect to see him take Muntari’s spot in the starting lineup when Montolivo returns from injury.
4. Pepe Reina may very well be the bargain of the season: He looked uncomfortable when dealing with crosses floated into the box but the former Liverpool shot stopper was the difference between the two teams on a night where Milan created nearly thrice as many scoring opportunities than Napoli did during the course of the game.
His brilliant save from a Mario Balotelli penalty coupled with some incredible saves from a whole host of Milan players might very well have made the Liverpool bosses regret their decision to loan him out.
5. Correction… Balotelli is ALMOST human: The mercurial striker missed his first penalty on this night and most of us expected him to break down right there and then. But to the very pleasant surprise of all Milan supporters around the world, the Italian hit-man shrugged off the emotional shock and rallied to bring his team back into the picture with a beautiful curled effort that beat Reina at his far post.
This triggered an incredible reaction from Milan who seem to be increasingly reliant on Balotelli to give them the courage they need to get going in a match.
Despite the late flourish, the Milanese outfit ended up on the losing side and for reasons unknown, the Milan striker was annoyed with the officials. His fervent appeals were only good enough to get him a red card though and if that wasn’t enough, the disciplinary committee decided to ban him for three games following the event.
It was an exciting game and at the end of the day, the team from Naples took the spoils and finally claimed victory in the San Siro. On the other hand, Milan lost a crucial game but emerged from the game with enough confidence to take on any team in the league without any hesitation.