New Delhi: Golden Balls was at his brilliant best, as his two glorious assists and all round dominant performance, led his side to a 3-0 victory over Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico.
Pre-Match And Team News
Juventus’ unexpected slip-up just 24 hours prior meant that Milan had the opportunity to reclaim second place in the standings, with victory at the Stadio Olimpico against Lazio. Meanwhile, their opponents were desperate to record their first league victory of the year, following a draw and two heavy defeats against Cagliari and Sampdoria respectively.
Lazio would have to do it without Fabio Firmani, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Pasquale Foggia, who all missed through suspension, whilst for the Rossoneri, Paolo Maldini and Mathieu Flamini were also out suspended. They missed the encounter along with the long term casualties in Alessandro Nesta, Gennaro Gattuso, Emerson, Marco Borriello and Kakha Kaladze.
Carlo Ancelotti opted to start Clarence Seedorf over Ronaldinho, alongside Kaka and Pato up front, whilst he utilised Philippe Senderos and Daniele Bonera, who replaced the late withdrawal Giuseppe Favalli, in the centre of defence. Delio Rossi employed his traditional 4-3-1-2 formation, with Mourad Meghni playing in behind Goran Pandev and Mauro Zarate in attack.
First Half
The Rossoneri got the contest underway in the Italian capital, as they looked to keep their impressive ten year unbeaten run against Lazio alive. However it was the home side that started the brighter, as they had a number of chances, as well as an early claim for a penalty, when Pandev seemed to be challenged by Ambrosini in the area.
Both sides were evidently tentative early on, something that was made clear by the fact that neither club could put together some consistent, free-flowing passing. There were a number of clumsy challenges that went in as well, including one by Ambrosini that led to the first booking of the match on 16 minutes.
Just moments later, the home side were awarded a free kick in an extremely promising position, 25 yards out from goal, following a soft challenge by Senderos on Zarate from behind. The Argentinean’s effort was high and wide however, and no trouble whatsoever to Abbiati in goals.
The match continued in similar fashion for the next ten or so minutes, as neither side managed to create any clear cut opportunities. The goalkeepers looked good, as did the defenders, who all looked solid and confident when challenging for the ball. Having said this though, the home side were certainly looking the more potent when surging forward in attack.
The Rossoneri started to put some possession together at this point however, which in turn resulted in some quality opportunities on goal, most notably one that fell to Pato. The young Brazilian, who had barely seen the ball to this point, was played through wonderfully and seemed to have the goal at his mercy, however Muslera got there first to deny him the opportunity.
Incredibly on 36 minutes, Zarate was denied by Abbiati in a one-on-one situation in the area, after he was played through brilliantly by Pandev on the right. The Milan keeper was quick to react however, as the Lazio attacker failed in his attempt to dribble around him.
As the first half neared an end, the visitors managed to break the deadlock through Pato, completely against the run of play. Kaka’s ball wide to Beckham was then cut back into the area by the Englishmen, where an unmarked Pato managed to beat Muslera at the near post with a fine finish. It was the young Brazilian’s tenth goal of the campaign, as he continued his impressive run of form this season.
The Biancocelesti had several chances to equalise immediately after the Pato goal, with one opportunity in particular that fell to Siviglia on the 45 minute mark when the defender failed in his attempt to tap it in past Abbiati from all of six yards out.
Right on the stroke of half time, Pato scored his second in minutes, with a brilliant header from an even better ball in from Beckham once again. The goal did not stand however, as the Brazilian was in an offside position, meaning that Milan would have to be content with their one goal advantage at the break.
Second Half
The Biancocelesti got the second half underway, however they were immediately dispossessed of the ball, as the visitors immediately managed to move forward early. Radu’s foul on Beckham and booking that followed after just one minute of play, resulted in a free kick in a dangerous crossing position for the Rossoneri.
Beckham stepped up to take the free kick, and his glorious ball into the area was met by the head of an unmarked Ambrosini, who scored Milan’s second of the night. Lazio’s dreadful defending from the set piece led to the goal, as the Milan veteran was able to easily head the ball home from inside the six yard box, to give his side a two goal lead.
The Rossoneri were all over their opponents in the opening stages of the half, as they denied Lazio possession of the ball for long periods of time, and managed to frustrate their fans, who were becoming discontent with their side’s performance. To attempt to mend this problem, Delio Rossi made the first change of the clash on 65 minutes; when Simone Inzaghi was brought on to replace Meghni in attack.
Just moments following the substitution however, Pato had the chance to make it three, as he was clean through on goal once again. However this time the Brazilian’s final touch was too heavy, which consequently allowed Muslera to beat him to it, and deny him of his eleventh of the season.
Kaka had a massive chance to do likewise after 73 minutes, when he was wonderfully played through by Beckham once again. The Brazilian was successful in beating Muslera in their one on one battle; however the woodwork prevented him from getting his name on to the score sheet.
As the half entered the final ten minutes, the home side gave everything they had, however it was Milan that made them pay on the counter attack, when Kaka slipped home the Rossoneri’s third after 83 minutes. An impressive one-two between Seedorf and the Brazilian was enough for the latter to easily stroll into the area and beat Muslera at the near post to make it three.
That’s how it would end in Rome, as Milan recorded their thirteenth victory of the season, thanks to goals by Pato, Ambrosini and Kaka, who scored in the final ten minutes of play. The result allows the Rossoneri to rise to second place, ahead of Juventus, whilst Lazio slip to tenth, as they now find themselves nine points adrift of the fourth and final Champions League qualifying position.
TEAMS
Lazio (4-3-1-2): Muslera; De Silvestri, Siviglia, Rozenhal, Radu (Kolarov, 74’); Brocchi (Dabo, 74’), Ledesma, Matuzalem; Meghni (Inzaghi, 65’); Pandev, Zarate
Milan (4-3-2-1): Abbiati; Zambrotta (Darmian, 86’), Senderos, Bonera; Jankulovski; Ambrosini, Pirlo, Beckham; Kaka (Shevchenko, 86’), Seedorf; Pato
GOALS
42’ Pato (Milan)
48’ Ambrosini (Milan)
83’ Kaka (Milan)
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