Another step towards normality. Milan in the San Siro format proves to be cynical and effective: with the 1-0 win over Chievo, there are 4 home victories out of 5 games, a respectable result which, this time yes, restores peace of mind around Mihajlovic. After Sassuolo we also had to beat the Veronese, without ifs and buts: the Rossoneri succeeded and now the standings, after weeks of pitch darkness, are back to seeing some light.
It's not so much a question of placement (8th) but of points: with yesterday's 3 they become 16, 5 fewer than Napoli, Fiorentina and Inter and only 7 from leaders Roma. Not that two victories are enough to clear all the problems, God forbid, but they certainly help to see things with more calm and optimism. On the other hand, Mihajlovic, who even invoked an exorcist last Saturday, finally has some reason to smile: the 4-3-3 always works better and so, after conceding goals against Turin and Sassuolo, the first clean sheet match arrived .
“It's a fundamental victory – admitted the Rossoneri coach in no uncertain terms. – It allows us to move up the rankings and regain confidence. We didn't concede a goal and this is good progress, but even against Sassuolo we conceded little or nothing. I'm only sorry for the bad first half, luckily many things can be fixed during the interval”. We can only imagine the degree of the Serbian's outburst at the end of the first 45', it is certain that in the second half Milan, in any case "on track" even in the first part, pushed on the accelerator.
And in fact, after touching him with a good header from Kucka (5', great save by Bizzarri), he found the goal that allowed him to win the match. Not with Bacca, Cerci or Bonaventura, nor with the much more popular Bertolacci or Montolivo but with Antonelli, good at exploiting a bank and beating Chievo with an angled and precise low shot with his right foot. At that point Milan tried to close the game with the second goal but failed, partly due to the usual imprecision, partly due to an understandable physical-athletic decline.
In the final, Chievo sent a nice shiver down the back of the Rossoneri people but Donnarumma, lined up again as a starter in Lopez's place, said no to the former Paloschi with a good save. All that mattered was winning and Mihajlovic's team succeeded: now the standings offer very different perspectives and even the away game at Lazio is a little less scary.
“Now things get interesting – commented Adriano Galliani. – Sunday we will have a very difficult match but things are very different compared to two weeks ago”. Power of victory, the only real medicine for a football team. And this Milan, after having desired it for a long time, no longer wants to do without it.
