Two late goals broke Lecce hearts as AC Milan cemented their grip on third place in Serie A with a last-gasp 2-0 win at the San Siro.
Ronaldinho and Filippo Inzaghi scored in second-half stoppage time to move Milan to within five points of second-placed Juventus, who were held to a draw earlier in the day.
Lecce arguably had the better chances of a lacklustre contest which only came to life when the 90 minutes were up, but the visitors nevertheless left beaten and still mired in the bottom three.
David Beckham was named on the bench for the first time since joining Milan in January with Kaka returning to the starting XI.
Beckham sat alongside Ronaldinho and Andriy Shevchenko on a star-studded bench but it was the latter pair who saw action as the England international stayed on the sidelines for the full 90 minutes.
Milan lacked creativity up front with Alexandre Pato and Inzaghi failing to spark.
There were even fewer chances at the other end as Lecce rarely managed to break free. The closest they came to scoring in the opening period was from Simone Tiribocchi's speculative volley after 10 minutes.
It was perhaps a sign of desperation that Pato tried his luck from fully 30 yards in the 34th minute, although the effort surprised Lecce goalkeeper Francesco Benussi who had to scurry across his line as the ball curled just inches wide.
Pato almost put the home side ahead with a determined run from deep late in the first half but he fired wide of the far post with only Benussi to beat.
Mathieu Flamini missed the first opportunity of the second half for Milan, coach Carlo Ancelotti rang the changes by brining on Ronaldinho for the ineffective Clarence Seedorf.
Ronaldinho was soon into the action and it was his crossfield ball to Gianluca Zambrotta which was the starting point for Milan's best chance of the half as the Italy full-back crossed for Pato who fluffed his lines from eight yards.
Gianni Munari forced Milan goalkeeper Dida into a good stop from a Tiziano Polenghi cross in the 62nd minute before Munari turned provider for Tiribocchi to head a glorious chance wide.
Benussi made a spectacular save to push a Ronaldinho free-kick away three minutes from time, but he could do little about the breakthrough goal from the Brazilian moments later.
Philippe Senderos was unlucky not to be the man celebrating the goal for Milan as his goal-bound header nicked off the head of Ronaldinho and into the net.
Just to rub salt into Lecce's wounds, Inzaghi added a second for the hosts moments later, heading in a cross from Shevchenko to seal the win.
Late winner no more than another doubtful performence from us and with Genoa is edging closer and closer,we should have put a more convinsing display.
A win is awin but the top three finished is a must and slipping out from the top three is an absolute embarassment and should not be allowed to happened.
http://acmilan-fanatic.blogspot.com
Sunday, April 5, 2009
LATE GOALS SAVES OUR BUTT
Posted by Rokku at 9:23 PM
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7 comments:
I almost sleep and i cant even cheering when the goals come.
They should the Itallian Serie A more asian friendly because of the fans is more in asia than in the europe itself.
I have a strong coffee and cant even sleep last night,hahaha..
Right now im feeling sooo sleepy at my office,great!
Agree..
A win is a win and with Genoa right behind us we will find it more challenging perhaps the players will realise that and starts taking things more seriously..
Great Win
Forza Milan!!
great win....
and much greater to see sheva provide...
i dont know...
i feel more delighted to see him providing the goods than seeing him score...
No way we will compete with the best next season for UCL based on last night game.
It's unbelieveble to think about the disaster coming our way next season
The youth will come back,the best news for me this season..
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