Published on: 10th January, 2010
Milan stole a march in the race to catch Inter at the top of Serie A with a Ronaldinho-inspired 3-0 win away to Juventus which casts further doubts over the future of beleaguered Bianconeri boss Ciro Ferrara.
The Brazilian’s brace came in the last 20 minutes as Milan’s dominance eventually bore fruit after Alessandro Nesta had pounced on Felipe Melo’s mistake to give the Rossoneri a narrow half-time advantage.
Both sides lined up as expected, with David Trezeguet and Alexandre Pato missing out through injury. Hasan Salihamidzic kept his place in the Bianconeri starting line-up after his scoring return at Parma in midweek, whilst David Beckham again started from the right side of attack in Milan’s 4-3-3 system.
Milan started the better and made a half-chance when Marco Borriello’s tenacity got the better of Fabio Cannavaro, allowing Ronaldinho to whip in a dangerous cross, which Fabio Grosso just managed to get a head to before an onrushing Beckham.
It was Diego who made the first real chance in the 13th minute, cutting in from the left, flat-footing both Ignazio Abate and Alessandro Nesta, before firing just wide of Nelson Dida’s far post.
Milan continued to look more comfortable on the ball without making any clear cut opportunities, coming up against a steadfast home back four.
Giorgio Chiellini came to the rescue for Juve when the Rossoneri built well down the right to put Beckham in a good crossing position. ‘Golden Balls’ hit a delicious ball into the path of Borriello at the near post, but Chiellini stole a march on the hitman to snuff out the danger.
On 29 minutes, Ronaldinho got clear down the left before playing a low ball in for Borriello, who tried to flick the ball up before shooting, giving Cannavaro time to block his left-foot strike.
Andrea Pirlo’s resulting corner was a poor one, but Felipe Melo inexplicably allowed the ball to bounce between his legs and through to Alessandro Nesta, who had the easiest of tasks to tap in at the far post.
Luca Antonini caught a stray arm from Salihamidzic as tempers rose and the Bianconeri tried to wrestle their way back into the match.
Juventus then came close to a leveller as a left-wing corner resulted in a scramble in the penalty area. Chiellini pulled himself clear of his marker to slide in with a shot, which Dida managed to parry before scrambling to smother at the second attempt.
Alex Manninger was then forced into a save of his own when Thiago Silva picked up Pirlo’s short free-kick 35 yards from goal and leathered a right foot effort, which forced the Austrian into a full-length sprawl.
When Beckham swung in the subsequent corner, Ronaldinho’s header was deflected just over the bar, leaving the home side still in with a shout as the teams went in for half-time.
Juventus should have been level within seconds of the restart as Amauri met a right-wing corner from Diego, but was unable to get the desired contact and could only glance across goal.
Milan then came close again when Ronaldinho’s low cross from the left of the box was deflected beyond Beckham, who turned and attempted a swinging right-foot volley which flew over the bar.
The game then became more cagey, with Milan controlling much of the possession, leaving Ciro Ferrara contemplating changes. He made his first move on the hour, replacing Salihamidzic with Alessandro Del Piero in the hope that the No. 10 could work his old magic.
But Milan started to make the better chances once more, and Borriello passed up an opportunity to put the game beyond Juve when Manninger and Chiellini got into a muddle, but the Italian striker was slow to get the ball under control and could neither get a shot in nor feed the unmarked Beckham.
Borriello again could have scored on 71 minutes, as Beckham retrieved the ball on the bye-line and lofted a cross to the far post, where the centre-forward chested instead of heading and the chance was gone.
But within a minute Milan deservedly put the game to bed when Ronaldinho was left unmarked at the near post to flick on Pirlo’s corner, and the ball took a slight deflection off substitute Paolo De Ceglie on its way into the bottom corner of the net.
Many Juventus fans saw this as a good time to leave, whilst others started to burn their complementary newspapers in the stands in protest.
Those who left simply saved themselves the pain of watching Milan control possession, and, almost inevitably, they added a late third. And it was Ronaldinho who netted once more. The Brazilian ghosted in at the far post on 88 minutes to meet David Beckham’s low cross ahead of a static Juventus defence.
The result puts Milan back within eight points of neighbours Inter, whilst Juventus now find themselves in serious danger of dropping out of the Champions League reckoning at the season’s halfway mark.
Kris Voakes, Goal.com