Skip to main content

Milan beat nine-man Bologna to go top of Serie A Milan (AFP) – AC Milan moved top of Serie A on Saturday after winning 4-2 at nine-man Bologna after having thrown away a two-goal half-time lead with the hosts already down to 10. Ismael Bennacer put Milan ahead for the second time six minutes from the end before Zlatan Ibrahimovic sealed a hard-fought win against a Bologna team which had Adama Soumaoro and Roberto Soriano both sent off in the first hour. Stefano Pioli’s unbeaten Milan are a point ahead of Napoli, who travel to Roma on Sunday hoping to maintain their 100 percent record so far this season, but was not be happy with their display. It comes after a painful Champions League defeat to Porto midweek and with a raft of first-choice players out injured or with Covid-19. “We thought we had won the game because we were two ahead and had a man extra, but if you stop playing you take a risk,” Pioli told Sky Sport Italia.  “It’s a big win. We know that when you have European commitments and you play someone who has had all week to prepare it’s going to be a difficult match.” Sinisa Mihajlovic’s Bologna meanwhile are ninth on 12 points after a defeat which will frustrate their Serb coach after they battled back to level shortly after the break. “With nine men, 10 men and even with 11 we were better than Milan today, they created little. It wasn’t easy but we showed today that we’re a good team,” said Mihajlovic. “We lost the points but we’ve won when it comes to play, spirit, courage and all the things that make a good team.” – Milan save blushes – Everything seemed to be going Milan’s way in the 16th minute when Rafael Leao collected Ibrahimovic’s classy through ball and lashed home a shot via a huge deflection off Gary Medel. Soumaoro was then shown a straight red card for bringing down Rade Krunic as the Bosnian raced through onto Simon Kjaer’s pass. By the time Davide Calabria lashed home the second in the 35th minute Milan looked home and dry, but Bologna came racing out of the traps after the break and were level within seven minutes of the restart. First Ibrahimovic weakly glanced home Nicolas Dominguez’s inswinging corner under little pressure in the 49th minute, and then Musa Barrow slipped behind a stunned Milan defence to confidently finish from Soriano’s pass. Soriano then left his team down to nine with more than half an hour left to play after planting his foot onto Fode Ballo-Toure’s ankle as the Senegal international was crossing the ball.  And Bennacer broke the home side’s resistance with a stylish first-time finish as the ball dropped to him from high. Ibrahimovic then gave the scoreline a more flattering appearance when he collected from Bennacer and scored his second league goal of the season. Earlier, Empoli held off battling Salernitana to win an exciting Serie A contest 4-2 after racing to a four-goal lead at half-time, moving them up to 10th on 12 points. Sassuolo moved away from the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over promoted Venezia which takes them to 12th on 11 points.


Milan (AFP) – AC Milan moved top of Serie A on Saturday after winning 4-2 at nine-man Bologna after having thrown away a two-goal half-time lead with the hosts already down to 10.

Ismael Bennacer put Milan ahead for the second time six minutes from the end before Zlatan Ibrahimovic sealed a hard-fought win against a Bologna team which had Adama Soumaoro and Roberto Soriano both sent off in the first hour.

Stefano Pioli’s unbeaten Milan are a point ahead of Napoli, who travel to Roma on Sunday hoping to maintain their 100 percent record so far this season, but was not be happy with their display.

It comes after a painful Champions League defeat to Porto midweek and with a raft of first-choice players out injured or with Covid-19.

“We thought we had won the game because we were two ahead and had a man extra, but if you stop playing you take a risk,” Pioli told Sky Sport Italia. 

“It’s a big win. We know that when you have European commitments and you play someone who has had all week to prepare it’s going to be a difficult match.”

Sinisa Mihajlovic’s Bologna meanwhile are ninth on 12 points after a defeat which will frustrate their Serb coach after they battled back to level shortly after the break.

“With nine men, 10 men and even with 11 we were better than Milan today, they created little. It wasn’t easy but we showed today that we’re a good team,” said Mihajlovic.

“We lost the points but we’ve won when it comes to play, spirit, courage and all the things that make a good team.”

– Milan save blushes –

Everything seemed to be going Milan’s way in the 16th minute when Rafael Leao collected Ibrahimovic’s classy through ball and lashed home a shot via a huge deflection off Gary Medel.

Soumaoro was then shown a straight red card for bringing down Rade Krunic as the Bosnian raced through onto Simon Kjaer’s pass.

By the time Davide Calabria lashed home the second in the 35th minute Milan looked home and dry, but Bologna came racing out of the traps after the break and were level within seven minutes of the restart.

First Ibrahimovic weakly glanced home Nicolas Dominguez’s inswinging corner under little pressure in the 49th minute, and then Musa Barrow slipped behind a stunned Milan defence to confidently finish from Soriano’s pass.

Soriano then left his team down to nine with more than half an hour left to play after planting his foot onto Fode Ballo-Toure’s ankle as the Senegal international was crossing the ball. 

And Bennacer broke the home side’s resistance with a stylish first-time finish as the ball dropped to him from high.

Ibrahimovic then gave the scoreline a more flattering appearance when he collected from Bennacer and scored his second league goal of the season.

Earlier, Empoli held off battling Salernitana to win an exciting Serie A contest 4-2 after racing to a four-goal lead at half-time, moving them up to 10th on 12 points.

Sassuolo moved away from the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over promoted Venezia which takes them to 12th on 11 points.



from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/3CdaYt4
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Xavi under no illusions ahead of fairytale on Barcelona return Barcelona (AFP) – Xavi Hernandez said he is prepared for the “biggest challenge of his career” before leaving Qatar for Spain on Saturday, as Barcelona’s legendary former midfielder returns home to take over as coach. Xavi’s appointment was confirmed by Barca in the early hours of Saturday morning and the 41-year-old will be presented to fans at Camp Nou on Monday. “I’m very happy as you can imagine, it’s the biggest challenge of my career,” Xavi told Spanish journalists at Doha airport. “I’m going home and I am very happy.” Xavi faces a huge challenge, with Barcelona adrift of La Liga’s top four, struggling to make the knock-out stages of the Champions League and grappling with debts of more than a billion euros. “I have also experienced bad situations,” Xavi said. “It’s not the best moment in the history of the club but I want to explain what my idea is and to work hard, to make a team. Obviously the first thing is to talk to the players to see how they are.” Xavi left Camp Nou to play for Qatari club Al Sadd in 2015, after making 767 appearances for Barcelona, with eight La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues among his 25 trophies. “It’s time to come home. Welcome, Xavi,” Barca tweeted in the early hours of Saturday morning, as Spain slept.  “It wasn’t goodbye, it was see you later,” it wrote, along with a video montage of the player’s departure in 2015. Barcelona said in a statement they had reached an agreement with Xavi to become first-team coach for the rest of the season and two more seasons, replacing the sacked Ronald Koeman. “It is expected that Xavi Hernandez will arrive in Barcelona this weekend and that on Monday 8, November his presentation as new FC Barcelona first team coach will take place in an event open to the public at Camp Nou,” it said. Nicknamed the “Maquina” (the Machine), Xavi is widely considered one of the club’s greatest players and there is huge excitement about his potential as a coach after his influence on the iconic Barca team managed by Pep Guardiola. His passing style was seen as the embodiment of Guardiola’s “tiki-taka” team that won the treble in 2009. “One of the greatest midfield maestros of all time, he helped redefine the art with his creative mind, pinpoint passing and sublime ability to read the game,” Barca said in their statement, heralding the return of “an absolute legend”. Al Sadd, which Xavi had coached since 2019, hours earlier said they had reached an agreement with Barca and posted photos on social media of the Spaniard saying goodbye to the players and staff. – ‘The dream’ – Barcelona’s attempt to appoint Xavi as Koeman’s successor had been held up on Friday over his Al Sadd release clause, with Xavi and Barca considering splitting the payment to complete the deal. Al Sadd said Barca had agreed to pay the clause in Xavi’s contract, which is reportedly set at around five million euros ($5.8 million), but Barcelona did not give any details of the deal in their statement. Spanish sports daily Marca headlined the club hero’s return and estimated the cost to Barca of sacking recent managers Ernesto Valverde, Quique Setien and Koeman at 32 million euros. Xavi had made no secret of his desire to return to Barcelona, which he joined through the club’s La Masia academy at the age of 11. “My main objective, when I can do it, is Barca,” Xavi told Marca last year. “It’s my home, that’s the dream.” Barcelona sat ninth in La Liga on Saturday morning, with concerns growing they might not qualify for next season’s Champions League. The club are also in dire financial straits, having posted debts of 1.35 billion euros. They could not afford to renew Lionel Messi’s contract in the summer, and the Argentine left for Paris Saint-Germain. Xavi will also be charged with improving the team’s style of play, which was a key criticism during the tenure of Koeman, another former Barca player. Xavi’s flight is due to touch down as Barca take on Celta Vigo in La Liga in Juan Barjuan’s last game as caretaker coach before he hands over to the man the fans are pinning their hopes on to turn the club around.

Barcelona (AFP) – Xavi Hernandez said he is prepared for the “biggest challenge of his career” before leaving Qatar for Spain on Saturday, as Barcelona’s legendary former midfielder returns home to take over as coach. Xavi’s appointment was confirmed by Barca in the early hours of Saturday morning and the 41-year-old will be presented to fans at Camp Nou on Monday. “I’m very happy as you can imagine, it’s the biggest challenge of my career,” Xavi told Spanish journalists at Doha airport. “I’m going home and I am very happy.” Xavi faces a huge challenge, with Barcelona adrift of La Liga’s top four, struggling to make the knock-out stages of the Champions League and grappling with debts of more than a billion euros. “I have also experienced bad situations,” Xavi said. “It’s not the best moment in the history of the club but I want to explain what my idea is and to work hard, to make a team. Obviously the first thing is to talk to the players to see how they are.” Xavi left...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rangers brush aside title rivals Hearts Glasgow (AFP) – Alfredo Morelos and Joe Aribo fired Rangers to a 2-0 win at Hearts on Sunday as the Scottish Premiership leaders extended their strong start under new boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Van Bronckhorst has won four successive league games since replacing Steven Gerrard after his predecessor’s move to Aston Villa. Morelos and Aribo scored in the early stages at Tynecastle, giving Rangers six consecutive league victories encompassing the end of Gerrard’s reign. Hearts had Josh Ginnelly sent off late on as they squandered a chance to close the gap on the champions. Rangers are 12 points clear of third placed Hearts and seven ahead of second placed Celtic, who host Motherwell later on Sunday. Van Bronckhorst made six changes to the Rangers side that began Thursday’s 1-1 draw at Lyon in the Europa League. Liam Boyce had a great chance to open the scoring for Hearts in the third minute when he ran on to John Souttar’s clipped ball over the top, but the Northern Ireland striker saw his lob tipped over by Allan McGregor. It was Rangers who scored with their first chance of the match after nine minutes when Ryan Kent’s cross reached Fashion Sakala and the Zambian cut the ball back to Morelos, who fired home from six yards out. Sakala shot just wide from close range moments later before Morelos headed wide from James Tavernier’s corner. Rangers’ second goal came in the 13th minute when Aribo ran on to a brilliant long diagonal from Connor Goldson and fired an angled low shot beyond the exposed Craig Gordon. Gary Mackay-Steven saw his angled shot pushed behind by McGregor early in the second half. Rangers had a let-off in the 53rd minute when Calvin Bassey knocked a Ginnelly cross off the underside of his own crossbar. Rangers remained a threat, however, and Scott Arfield and Sakala were both denied by saves from Gordon. Boyce fired over from close range after being set up by Mackay-Steven before Stephen Kingsley cracked a free kick off the bar from 30 yards out. In the 80th minute, Ginnelly was sent off after being shown a second yellow card for squaring up to Borna Barisic.

Glasgow (AFP) – Alfredo Morelos and Joe Aribo fired Rangers to a 2-0 win at Hearts on Sunday as the Scottish Premiership leaders extended their strong start under new boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Van Bronckhorst has won four successive league games since replacing Steven Gerrard after his predecessor’s move to Aston Villa. Morelos and Aribo scored in the early stages at Tynecastle, giving Rangers six consecutive league victories encompassing the end of Gerrard’s reign. Hearts had Josh Ginnelly sent off late on as they squandered a chance to close the gap on the champions. Rangers are 12 points clear of third placed Hearts and seven ahead of second placed Celtic, who host Motherwell later on Sunday. Van Bronckhorst made six changes to the Rangers side that began Thursday’s 1-1 draw at Lyon in the Europa League. Liam Boyce had a great chance to open the scoring for Hearts in the third minute when he ran on to John Souttar’s clipped ball over the top, but the Northern Ireland stri...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bayern down Mainz to go six points clear in the Bundesliga Berlin (AFP) – Defending champions Bayern Munich extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to six points on Saturday after coming from behind to seal a 2-1 home win against Mainz. Second-half goals by Kingsley Coman and 18-year-old Jamal Musiala sealed the victory behind closed doors at Munich’s Allianz Arena after Mainz had taken a shock lead. Bayern remain firmly on course to win the German league for the tenth straight season after stretching their lead at the top of the table as second-placed Dortmund were held 1-1 at Bochum. 

Berlin (AFP) – Defending champions Bayern Munich extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to six points on Saturday after coming from behind to seal a 2-1 home win against Mainz. Second-half goals by Kingsley Coman and 18-year-old Jamal Musiala sealed the victory behind closed doors at Munich’s Allianz Arena after Mainz had taken a shock lead. Bayern remain firmly on course to win the German league for the tenth straight season after stretching their lead at the top of the table as second-placed Dortmund were held 1-1 at Bochum.  from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/3lVLPNa
Post a Comment
Read more