Milan held by Juventus in battle for second place

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AC Milan are all but assured of second place in the Serie A.

New Delhi: The Rossoneri have all but assured themselves of second place in the league, despite being held by the third place Juventus at the San Siro Stadium.

Pre-Match And Team News

Milan and Juventus both had an incredibly lengthy list of casualties to deal with in the lead up to this crucial contest, as they squared off in a match that would go a long way to deciding which team would finish in second place, behind the forthcoming champions Inter.

The Rossoneri were aware of the fact that if they failed to win this match, their cross-town rivals would be one step closer to becoming the champions of Italy for the fourth successive time.

To make matters worse for them, they were forced to play this match with their third goal keeper, Zeljko Kalac, who made his first start of the season. Mathieu Flamini was back from suspension; whilst Gennaro Gattuso started on the bench, following a long period out with injury. Meanwhile, the Bianconeri welcomed back Nicola Legrottaglie and Giorgio Chiellini, both of whom started in the centre of defence.

First Half

Milan got this highly anticipated clash underway, and as expected they started in an extremely positive manner, especially considering the fact that they had scored 13 times for only one conceded, in the five matches prior to this one. It took just four minutes for the first card to be shown, as Beckham picked up a yellow for an extremely tough challenge on Marchionni after just four minutes of play.

After a slow start, the first shot of the match came about on 11 minutes, when Camoranesi blasted an effort over the bar from close range, following an impressive build up play. Juve pressed forward in numbers, as they looked to threaten the Rossoneri back four, for the first time of the night. Eventually Marchionni sent in an inviting cross, one that Iaquinta cleverly headed down towards Camoranesi, however as previously mentioned, his effort from inside the area failed to test Kalac in goal.

The Old Lady continued to pressure the Rossoneri’s back four, so much so that Flamini was forced to make two goal saving efforts in the next ten minutes to deny Iaquinta and Marchionni more significantly. The home side managed to hold firm though, ensuring that the score line remained scoreless after 20 minutes of play.

An uncharacteristic error by Chiellini almost gifted Inzaghi a goal moments later, as the veteran striker out muscled his opponent, allowing himself to have a clean strike on goal from just outside the area, following a long ball forward by Seedorf. Pippo’s effort sailed well over the bar though, however despite this, the Rossoneri were certainly starting to get themselves into it, as the match began to rise in intensity.

Both sides were struggling to create any promising opportunities up front, as both keepers had barely moved a muscle in the opening half hour of the contest. The best chance of the first half came about on 36 minutes, when Poulsen managed to skip past a couple of opponents and work his way to the edge of the area, only to see his left foot effort sail inches wide of the bottom right corner.

As the first half entered its final five minutes, it was evident that the home side in particular were becoming a little desperate in front of goal, something that was clearly shown through Seedorf’s effort from all of 35 yards that failed to test Buffon yet again. The Rossoneri had only managed one shot on target for the half, and this statistic would be the case at the break, as the two sides left the field deadlocked at the interval.

Second Half

Juventus resumed the proceedings in the second half, knowing that if they failed to score in the next 45 minutes of play, their chances of finishing in second place and achieving automatic qualification to the Champions League next season would be put into serious doubt. With this in mind, they obviously approached this period in an extremely attacking manner, clearly illustrated by Iaquinta’s long range effort within the first minute of play.

Inzaghi had a massive opportunity to open the scoring just two minutes later, when Beckham picked him out from a corner kick. The veteran attacker was unmarked and had a free header in the area, however his effort was poor as it sailed wide of the target. Incredibly, on the counter attack that followed, Juve had a huge chance of their own to take the lead, as Iaquinta’s powerful drive from within the area was spilled by Kalac, and had it not been for the heroics of Flamini, then Amauri would have been gifted a simple tap in on goal.

Milan managed to finally open the scoring on 57 minutes, as Clarence Seedorf’s sixth goal of the campaign capped off an outstanding counter-attacking play. A poor pass forward by Legrottaglie was intercepted and sent forward to Inzaghi, and after making his way forward, it was his cut back that led to Ambrosini’s mishit on goal that fell into the path of the Dutchman, who tapped it in from only a few yards out.

Incredibly it took the Bianconeri just three minutes to respond, as they managed to do so through Iaquinta, who was simply too strong for arguably the best player on the pitch to this point in Flamini. Camoranesi’s inch perfect ball into the area was met by the head of Iaquinta, and his effort gave Kalac no chance in goal, to make the score line 1-1.

It took 67 minutes for the first change to be made on the night, as Ancelotti opted to replace Beckham with Pato, meaning that Milan changed their shape for the remainder of the clash. Zebina was then introduced for the visitors, as he took the place of the injured De Ceglie, whilst on 75 minutes, two of the biggest names in world football entered the field of play, as Ronaldinho and Del Piero came on in place of Inzaghi and Amauri respectively.

The best play of the night came about just prior to the introduction of the Juve skipper, who coincidentally made his 600th appearance in the Bianconeri colours in this match. With just over 15 minutes remaining in the match, Pato beat his man on the left, allowing himself to whip in a glorious ball into the area, where Inzaghi awaited. Pippo peeled off his marker and smashed the ball on the turn towards goal, with a lovely first time effort out of mid-air that sailed inches over the bar.

Milan had a serious claim for a penalty on 83 minutes, when Legrottaglie made a challenge from behind on Pato, however the referee correctly called for the play to continue. In the seconds that followed though, the Rossoneri players protested with real menace, and to make matters worse, Favalli was shown his second booking following a tough challenge out of frustration on Del Piero. The home side were down to ten men, and understandably Ancelotti brought on Senderos to sure up the back four in the final moments of the match.

Both sides pressed in the closing moments, however it was too little too late, as the referee’s whistle after four minutes of stoppage time confirmed the drawn result on the night. Milan remain seven points adrift of their cross-town rivals Inter with just three matches remaining, whilst Juventus’ failure to win means that they are now without a league victory in six matches, and to make matters worse for them now, just four points separate them from the fourth placed Fiorentina.

Teams

Milan (4-3-2-1): Kalac; Flamini, Maldini, Favalli, Zambrotta; Beckham (Pato, 67’), Pirlo, Ambrosini; Seedorf (Senderos, 88’), Kaka, Inzaghi (Ronaldinho, 75’)

Juventus (4-4-2): Buffon; Grygera, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, De Ceglie (Zebina, 73’); Camoranesi, Poulsen, Zanetti, Marchionni; Amauri (Del Piero, 75’), Iaquinta

Goals

57’ Seedorf (Milan)

60’ Iaquinta (Juventus)

Red cards

84’ Favalli (Milan)