Milan
lost away to a sprightly Udinese today with a 37th minute
penalty scored through Pizarro after Maldini handled the
ball in the area. Milan still retain top spot but are
now joined at the top by Inter. Juventus have also made
up ground and are low a point behind the "rossoneri".
Milan
did not play at all well today. Most visibly Rivaldo and
Rui Costa were shadows of their own selves. In fact, Ancelotti
substituted the Brazilian at half time with Gattuso and
Shevchenko with the other place losing out being Pirlo.
Udinese were reduced to ten men but Milan never took advantage
of this and were still unable to score.
22/1/2003
Milan in the semi-final
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1'
Kaladze (M), 43' e 64' Seedorf (M), 45' Tomasson (M),
69' Beghetto (C), 81' Franceschini (C), 84' Dalla Bona
(M)
Milan's
determination paid off today, especially in the second
half. Milan without Nesta at th back, disqualified, fielded
Costacurta with Maldini. Kaladze was left and Simic on
the right. In midfield Ancelotti fielded Pirlo, Serginho,
Ambrosini and Rivaldo. Shevchenko and Inzaghi were up
front.
Milan
started badly and Piacenza could have scored were it not
for Dida who produced some fine saves. The first hald
was the usual affair. Milan in possession and Piacenza
defending well. The rossoneri though could not penetrate
the solid Piacenza defence, well organised by Agostinelli.
Ex-Milan players Tosto and Cardone played a great match
and in the second half it was Piacenza who took the lead.
Milan,
unbalanced in trying to forge ahead, got caught off guard
and Gurenko first timed Piacenza into the lead. Milan's
reaction was immediate. Inzaghi flew into the box only
to be fouled by Maresca for a clear penalty. Pirlo sent
Orlandoni the wrong way to equalise. Milan continued to
press forward and a great Pirlo move found Rivaldo just
outside the box. The classy Brasilian side footed his
opponent and hit a scorching left footed drive into the
low corner of the net to put Milan up front.
Piacenza's
game plan was no of no use. Defending was useles and milan
had ample opportunities to seal the victory but missed
chance after chance. However, possession was still the
order of the day and Milan landed three important points
and the title of winners of the first phase of the Serie
A.
Pirlo
was voted Man of the Match.
14/1/2003
Milan fail to score at San Siro
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Milan:
Abbiati; Helveg, Laursen, Nesta, Costacurta; Brocchi,
Dalla Bona (74' Serginho), Redondo, Leonardo (46' Rui
Costa); Inzaghi, Tomasson
Manager:
Ancelotti
Chievo:
Ambrosio; Mensah, D'Angelo, Lorenzi, Pesaresi; Della Morte
(76' Bierhoff), Andersson, Nalis, Lazetic (58' Cossato);
Pellissier, Beghetto (66' Lanna)
Manager:
Del Neri
Referee:
Dondarini
Yellow
cards: Dalla Bona (M), Rui Costa (M)
Milan failed
to score any goals at the San Siro in the Coppa Italia
clash against Chievo. The match was drab and lacklustre
with Chievo showing more play than Milan on the night.
Ancelotti fielded Inzaghi with Tomasson up front and also
fielded Nesta, who has been disqualified for next Sunday's
match against Piacenza.
Milan
gave Bologna their first point loss at home of the season
with Ancelotti being the declared hero of the match with
his great moves before and during the match. Ancelotti
surprised everyone by leaving out Inzaghi and Pirlo playing
Shevchenko as the lone striker and adding Ambrosini to
filter the midfield with Gattuso. The match was dominated
by both midfields int he first half but when milan took
the lead through Shevchenko the match turned round and
Milan created numerous chances to score. Shevchenko's
goal came in the 6th minute of the seocnd half when he
was lucky with a rebound and stormed into the area shooting
in the top corner of the net beating Pagliuca.
Earlier
Ancelotti had made anoth good tactical move inserting
Serginho in for Rui Costa. This caught Bologna off guard
and the Brazilian showed off his talents with a few good
runs. The second goal in fact came from Serginho when
a crossed ball fell lose in the area only to find Serginho
ready to blast it into the top of the net.
From
here on it was only Milan and Serginho missed when all
alone in front of Pagliuca. Shevchenko also missed a good
chance to finish off the game but a 0-2 result in Bologna
is the best New Year present one could hope for.
7/1/2003
Milan in Saudi Arabia
Milan beat
Al Ittihad 3-1 with goals from Tomasson (2) and Leonardo
in a friendly match today. Ancelotti used all the players
at his disposal in front of a capacity crowd.
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