Milan v Empoli: Take That, Pretenders!

By: Martha | April 7th, 2007

Gourcuff Wow, what a great win for Milan. Finally they stand tall and soundly beat one of the teams near them in the table — the result is not only great for their confidence, but also leaves them just a point out of Champions League qualification, something that seemed inconceivable just a few months ago. Milan dominated huge stretches of the second half, defended well with a backline that was largely second choice (Cafu, Bonera, Kaladze and then Simic, and Favalli), and were creative and threating in attack. This was probably the best they’ve looked in Serie A all season, and they’re heading to Germany positively overflowing with confidence.

Various and sundry:

•It was nice to see Gourcuff imposing himself on the game a bit — when he doesn’t sit back and cede the entire center of the midfield to Kaka, he makes Milan even more threatening and unpredictable in attack.

•Serginho finally made his return for Milan. Even though he only played a few minutes, that must have felt good after the 700 years he spent out, recovering from back surgery.

•Ronaldo was up for it, for once — he played some great balls and scored a fantastic goal (clearly trying to emulate his countryman Mancini, albeit with two-fewer stepovers). It’s been a while since he was that lively, and Ancelotti’s got to be sorry won’t be an option in Munich.

•Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure Gattuso’s chest sticks out even more than usual when he wears the captain’s armband. He was having a wonderful time, in the middle of everything and running the midfield at his usual fever pitch. (Now, if only he’d limit his yellows to fouls and stop picking up stupid cautions for dissent, he’d really be in business.)

•Gila, as has been his wont lately, seemed out of sync with everyone. Until, that is, he stepped up and did great work with Ronaldo’s hopeful chip and reminded everyone why he was on the pitch. The guy is infuriatingly inconsistent, but he does score goals.
•GREAT goal by Saudati. God damn. If hit a ball that cleanly and just solidly once in my life, I could die happy.