Joke at the end: goals from Higuain and Bonaventura were not enough for the Rossoneri. Rigoni and Zapata give the Bergamo players an equaliser.
Gattuso, forced to do without Cutrone and the former Caldara due to the worsening of his back problem, confirms the usual eleven of the last few days. In the Atalanta house, Gasperini, disqualified and in the stands, throws the young Barrow from 1′.
TRAININGS
MILAN: 4-3-3: Donnarumma; Calabria(67′ Abate), Musacchio, Romagnoli, Rodriguez; Kessié, Biglia, Bonaventura (75′ Bakayoko); Suso, Higuain, Calhanoglu (85′ Castillejo).
ATALANTA: 3-4-3: Gollini; Toloi, Palomino, Masiello; Chestnuts, De Roon, Freuler, Gosens(76′ Ilicic); Pasalic(46′ Rigoni), Barrow(46′ Zapata), Gomez.
THE MATCH
The match starts in the best way for Milan: just 93 seconds and the Rossoneri are immediately in the lead. Suso, from the right, makes a soft cross which Higuain, undisturbed, on the fly, crosses and scores his third consecutive goal. Milan is confident and easily gets to Gollini's side. In the 14th minute Kessié pots centrally for Higuain who frees himself with footwork from an opponent, but his attempt is blocked. In the 19th minute Bonaventura made room for a shot in the midfield, but his shot was blocked for a corner by Gollini. Milan play well and are close to doubling their lead. In the 22nd minute VAR rightly took away the joy of the former coach's goal Bonaventura which is located beyond the Nerazzurri defence. In the 31st minute Biglia tries with a powerful shot from 25 meters, but his attempt falls easy prey to Gollini. A minute later, Atalanta's first big chance also arrived: after a spurt, Toloi, at the far post, shot towards goal. His shot becomes an assist for a moment Pasalic, a former Rossoneri player, who from two steps away, with the goal unguarded, sends the ball incredibly wide. The Rossoneri reacted immediately to the scare: in the 39th minute, from the right, Calabria put it in the middle for Bonaventura who hit the post with his header. The last chance of the first half is still for the Rossoneri: in the 44th minute, on the counterattack, Higuain throws it towards goal Kessie who, face to face with Gollini, sends the ball wide.
In the second half Atalanta ran for cover and immediately brought in Rigoni and Zapata. Shortly afterwards, it was the Atalanta striker himself who became dangerous in the opponent's penalty area: the Colombian jumped Musacchio and let go the shot which Donnarumma he fights back with his fists. Atalanta came back better from the break and found the equalizer in the 53rd minute. Zapata again, on the right, puts in a cross which Gomez, anticipating Calabria, scores behind Donnarumma. But the Nerazzurri's temporary equalizer lasted only 7 minutes. In the 60th minute Suso beats an opponent and hits a low shot in the center of the penalty area Bonaventura who, as a centre-forward, anticipates everyone and puts the Rossoneri's new lead into the net. After the VAR intervention and the post, the former Atalanta player can finally celebrate. The 2-1 boosted morale for Milan: in the 68th minute, a nice cross from Suso from the right to Calhanoglu, who while running is unable to give the right precision to the shot. Atalanta tries to make itself dangerous: in the 72nd minute Castagne makes a cross that Gosens volleys into the far post, but his conclusion does not worry Donnarumma. In the 82nd minute after a melee in the Rossoneri area, de Roon he kicks, but his shot, weak, ends up comfortably in the arms of Donnarumma. Milan comes back to life in attack: in the 87th minute Bakayoko serves Higuain in the area, who tries to anticipate the goalkeeper's exit from the outside, but his shot hits the post and goes wide. In the 89th minute, a sensational opportunity for Atalanta: another melee in the Rossoneri area and after a series of counterattacks, de Roon shoots into an empty net, but Rodriguez he performs a real miracle by saving at the last minute on the line. Atalanta tries the final forcing and is rewarded: in the 92nd minute Zapata volleys with his right foot. Donnarumma thanks to an amazing intervention rejects as he can, but on the rebound, Rigoni he is the quickest, and, with an empty goal, he scores the Nerazzurri equalizer. For Milan, a second half that was not up to par compromised the final victory, on the other hand, the changes from the bench were decisive and allowed them to regain the draw.
THE GOALSCORERS
For both teams, the scorers proved to be clearly the best on the pitch. Higuain is in form, and he immediately shows it with his second consecutive goal in the league, after the one scored on Thursday in the Europa League. He fights and plays for the team, adding quality plays to the Rossoneri's offensive actions: the outside post denies him his personal double. Even if on the third attempt, Bonaventura's goal arrived. The Rossoneri midfielder produced a remarkable performance. His constant insertions put the Atalanta defense in difficulty. A shame not to have seen him on the pitch for 90 minutes.
THE SECOND HALF
The drop in the second half made us think for a moment about the match at San Paolo, even if Milan had the opportunity to react after Zapata's equaliser, taking the lead again. What the two matches have in common, however, is the lack of management of the match by Gattuso's men. The changes made by the Rossoneri coach did not bring the hoped-for freshness and forced Milan to suffer the final forcing of Atalanta.
Now all that remains is to put this draw behind us and concentrate on the next midweek round of the championship. On Thursday evening, at the Castellani, Milan will face Empoli, where, after two consecutive draws, it will be essential to regain victory. #ANewMilan.
Article by Mattia Accogli
Reproduction reserved © Copyright La Milano