Goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Antonio Nocerino in the second-half mean
Alberto Malesani's men have now lost three of their last four league games, and
will unsurprisingly pile the pressure on the former Bologna and Parma coach.
However, the match was almost subject of a premature abandonment just 12
minutes in, as tear gas was let off inside the Marassi in Genoa, while
disturbances outside the stadium threatened to boil over.
Fortunately for supporters, referee Domenico Celi was permitted to resume
proceedings several minutes later, although no clear goalscoring chances were
to be carved out in the subsequent 30 minutes of action.
Despite Genoa starting more positively, the incident seemed to have swung the
momentum in favour of Milan, who began with an early penalty shout after Nocerino
was felled by Marco Rossi.
The playmaking talents of Kevin-Prince Boateng and Ibrahimovic were frequently
on hand to orchestrate attacks and powering shots at goal for the reigning
champions, but Sebastien Frey remained on his toes to keep the scores tied.
Genoa almost stole the initiative against the run of play when Thiago Silva's
wayward pass to Luca Antonini was intercepted by Giandomenico Mesto in the box,
but the winger could only strike wide of Marco Amelia.
The second half sprung into life when Kakha Kaladze conceded a penalty after picking up a
second yellow and consequent red card for a clumsy challenge on Ibrahimovic,
who got up to smash the spot-kick home after 55 minutes.
It ought to have been 2-0 to the Scudetto holders a minute past the hour mark,
but Robinho somehow ballooned over from a yard out with the goal at his mercy. Genoa's Marco Rossi also saw chance from close-range fall
his way, but he could only manage to squeeze his effort wide.
There was to be no surprise ending, however, as Milan sealed the three points
on 78 minutes.Boateng drilled a low cross into the box, which was met
by Nocerino,
who continued his prolific start to the campaign by slamming the ball past
Frey.
The defeat sees Genoa fall to 10th place in the Serie A table, while Milan
could be usurped at the top if Juventus beat Cesena on Sunday.
0 comments:
Post a Comment