AC Milan booked a hard-fought victory in Serie A on Monday evening. Came to visit Sampdoria i Rossoneria early on a lead, which was still in danger but was not relinquished: 0-1. Brahim Diaz, who came over from Real Madrid this summer, was responsible for the only goal of the game.
The team of coach Stefano Pioli started the game energetically, as the score was opened after nine minutes. Davide Calabria trumped Tommaso Augello on the right side of the field and delivered a tailor-made cross to Díaz. The midfielder suddenly shot at goal and saw the ball, partly thanks to a slip by goalkeeper Emil Audero, fall in the bottom left corner: 0-1. With that, Sampdoria was shaken awake, because on the other side, the home team came close to a goal four times within a time frame of more than ten minutes.
Brahim Diaz puts Milan ahead! ?
I Rossoneri well off the starting blocks in Genoa ????#ZiggoSport #SeriesA #SampdoriaMilan pic.twitter.com/6zHwBpgAWr— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) August 23, 2021
First Antonio Candreva broke through on the right side of the field and delivered a hard and low cross to Mikkel Damsgaard, who just missed the toe against the ball. Then there was a leading role for goalkeeper Mike Maignan. From approximately 25 meters Manolo Gabbiadini was allowed to score a free kick, which he took excellently but saw Milan’s closing post save beautifully. Moments later, Maignan was important twice again by parrying a shot by Omar Colley and a missed shot.
After half an hour of play, Rade Krunic had an excellent opportunity to double the score. Audero could only half use Theo Hernández’s shot, giving Krunic a great chance from the rebound but saw his shot end up in the side net. It was a small miracle that only one goal was scored in the attractive first half. In the second company Maignan was again important for his team. Gabbiadini took advantage of a slip from Hernández, but the Sampdoria striker put his shot into Maignan’s hands. In the end, Gabbiadini had to leave the field in tears after he landed wrong on his ankle.
The pace of the game dropped in the remainder of the second half and no more great opportunities were created. Ante Rebic came closest to a new, Milanese goal. On the stroke of the final whistle, the Croat produced a well-placed shot towards the top corner, but his effort went just wide and the score remained unchanged.