Three slaps in silence, for a draw that counts as a defeat. The nightmare continues, Milan is no longer there, overwhelmed by its fears, its limits, its ghosts, in this very bitter end to the season which increasingly resembles a horror film that seems to never end. Six games without a win: the last one dates back to 6 April, a month ago, 3-0 against Lecce. Then, the darkness.
It ends 3-3 against the brilliant Genoa of the former Gilardinowho gets the game back two minutes from the end, thanks to a mocking own goal from Thiawat the end of an absurd, surreal afternoon, which started badly with Retegui’s penalty (“I dream of the European Championship” he later said), conceded due to yet another blunder by Tomori, one of the negative symbols of this season-no.
Then Florenzi’s equalizer, the rossoblù’s new lead with Ekuban at the start of the second half, before the illusory one-two signed by Gabbia and Giroud which seemed to direct Sunday towards a less bitter ending. But no: Pioli also puts his best foot forward, bringing on an extra defender, Thiaw for Chukwueze, with the aim of maintaining the 3-2. But the move has the opposite effect: the team breaks in two and falls too low, so inevitably comes the coup from Genoa, who bring home a well-deserved, desired and sought-after point.
For the Rossoneri defense the ugliness of 42 goals conceded in 35 matches, 8 in the last 4: only Sassuolo and Salernitana did worse. A terrible figure, from a medium-low ranking, rather than from second place, which is now back at risk: they will have to be defended tooth and nail in these last three days, against Cagliari, Torino and Salernitana. Mission possible, as long as the trend is reversed.
Pioli: «They were more serene»
«They were more serene, it’s not a question of commitment and attitude, we had taken it back with great generosity but then we conceded a goal that should have been avoided” admits Pioli, who also had his say on the supporter protest, with the 70 thousand at San Siro who, as promised, remained silent, leaving the flags at home: «The fans must be respected, they will have their own motivations, they have always been an added value. The elimination in the Europa League had an impact, it was one of our objectives.” For the entire match the Curva Sud displayed a banner, which read: “The sound of silence”.
Flop by Leao
Two considerations. The first concerns yet another flop from the big names, which too often this season have failed. The coach has his responsibilities, this is clear, but he has certainly never been helped by those who could and should: yesterday too Giroud was bad, Hernandez was bad, Leao was very bad, replaced amidst boos. Now it must be untied first the whole bench knot (Conceiçao and Fonseca are on the casting list, but they are not the only ones, Thiago Motta is also liked but Juventus is ahead), then in the summer on the market it will be necessary to find elements of character and personality, who know how to take charge of the team in difficult moments , crucial: qualities that have been sorely missing this season.
The other consideration concerns Gilardino, who returned as a former player to San Siro, where he played from 2005 to 2008, lifting the 2007 Champions League: his Genoa team impressed with their ideas and courage. “We have a big heart and a desire to amaze, we must cultivate these feelings, our DNA must be this” admitted the former striker, who seems predestined for the bench. Its president, Zangrillo, met Maignan at the end of the match, in the stands due to a muscle problem: in the first leg there was a very heavy back and forth after a bad foul by the goalkeeper, who was then sent off. There was a nice hug between the two. Case closed. At least this.
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