Zlatan downs Mourinho Roma
On Sunday night, there was top bragging in the Italian Serie A, when the number two in the table, AC Milan, on the road in Rome met Roma. While the visitors from Milan are still undefeated in the best Italian football series this season, Roma needed a victory to hold on to the top three teams that are about to run away from the pursuit group.
The home team also came out like lightning and thunder, and attacked Milan's defensive in the beginning of the match. When that pressure was taken off, Milan took over both in games and chances.
It took a bit of finishing magic from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to get the ball in behind Roma goalkeeper Rui Patricio. On a direct free kick, the Swedish Milan star sent the ball down the long goal corner to Milan lead in the middle of the first half.
Milan actually doubled the lead shortly after, but Rafael Leao's excellent goal was canceled out for offside. The Portuguese was played free by Ibrahimovic, who sent a ball in depth to the fast Portuguese using his chest. Leao tipped the ball over Rui Patricio for the first time, heading the ball into the empty cage.
At the end of the first half, Roma tried to put new pressure on Milan. Although the Romans got a couple of corner kicks in a row, the home team in the first half failed to send a finish away, which hit Milan's goal.
In the second half, the intensity got a nod up at the Stadio Olimpico in the Italian capital. Ibrahimovic in particular became the centerpiece of an entertaining second half. First, the Swede had a goal canceled on a correctly ruled offside, and then the Milan striker attracted a penalty kick.
The penalty kick was safely used by Franck Kessié, and then it looked like a formality for a strong-playing Milan team to drive the victory home. That made the Theo Hernandez difficult, however, with twenty minutes left of the match.
The French left-back lay down in a tackle on Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini on the edge of the Milan field, and it cost Theo a warning. When Milan's Frenchman already in the first half also got one, it meant marching order.
With a quarter of an hour left on the stadium clock, Milan coach Stefano Pioli guarded the room in front of his own goal. Olivier Giroud finished as the only offensive Milan player on the field, with five defenders and three central midfielders right in front of his own field.
Milan tried to keep the Romans from the goal, but the home team kept pushing. Three minutes into the referee's extra time, Roma substitute and former AC Milan player Stephan El Shaarawy managed to get the ball in behind Milan goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu.
In the last minutes, the Milan field looked like the Central Station in Copenhagen on a Friday afternoon. However, Roma did not manage to find the equalizer in the overcrowded Milan field, and therefore Milan continue with Napoli, who won earlier in the evening over Salernitana, their pair race at the top of the Italian Serie A.
Milan and Napoli both have 31 points after 11 Serie A matches. Roma hold on to their fourth place, but with the defeat have 12 points up to the two teams in front of Serie A.