Christian Pulisic’s history-making goal for AC Milan was a minor consolation in an otherwise humiliating loss for the Rossoneri against just-promoted Parma, while Andrija Novakovich did his best to give Bari a leg-up for their first points of the season, only for the team to blow it to stay winless.
Parma 2 – 1 AC Milan
Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah both earned the start for AC Milan boss Paulo Fonseca, however a loss to just-promoted Parma might have the Portuguese coach checking out early discount reservations for a post-sacking Christmas holiday.
After the team was forced to put on a heroic display to even manage a home draw in their opener against Torino, pressure was already on the coach and the team to respond with what should have been a straightforward three points against promoted Parma.
Instead, Fonseca completely lost faith in his original tactical plan, making wholesale changes to the starting XI in what turned out to be a perfect demonstration of panicked flailing turning a forgettable 90 minutes into a proper crisis.
The one beneficiary of Fonseca’s lineup overhaul was USMNT star Musah, who earned the start in central midfield alongside Tijjani Reijnders, however a general ineffective outing saw him yanked after 67 minutes in favor of the similarly flaccid Youssouf Fofana.
It was clear the evening was off to a bad start when Dennis Man was left unmarked in the right side of the area, and was able to put away Emanuele Valeri’s cross from the left with a sweeping one-times shot that was well out of the reach of Milan keeper Mike Maignan.
The game did settle into the expected rhythm, with Milan largely in control of the flow, but unable to do anything with their dominant position. Pulisic was arguably the team’s best player, setting up four chances, several from corners, and coming close with a 49th minute reflex shot that was saved by Parma’s American-born Japanese international Zion Suzuki.
He did put Milan on equal footing in the 66th minute, placing himself in the perfect position to put away Rafael Leao’s short lay-off from short-range. This was his tenth season with at least one goal in the top flight leagues of Germany, England and Italy, a remarkable feat for a player who is still only 25 years old.
However, Milan’s hopes of building momentum to take their first win of the season were dashed 11 minutes after Pulisic’s score, after Pontus Almqvist broke free for a long run up the left flank, and set up Matteo Cancellieri with a low cross for an easy finish to take the win for Parma.
With only one point from their first two games and a visit to Lazio coming up on Saturday, Milan are in a world of hurt and headed towards crisis, should they not right the ship soon. As the common saying amongst Italians goes, it is looking less likely by the day that the Portuguese coach will stick around long enough to eat the traditional christmas cake (panettone).
Modena 2 – 1 Bari
Andrija Novakovich proved once again he is a reliable force in Serie B, opening his account with Bari on Friday evening with an early goal in their road loss at Modena.
The American put in an overall strong performance despite the loss, managing three shots, two of which were on target, while creating an additional chance in his 58 minutes of play.
He put his team in a strong position in the 17th minute, lunging between a pair of Modena defenders to poke the ball over the line after the keeper spilled Raffaele Pucino’s free kick to the lower right corner for the 1-0 load.
Still, Bari wasted their early lead, allowing their hosts to equalise in the third minutes of added time before the break from the spot, with Antonio Palumbo connecting after VAR confirmed that Francesco Vicari pulled Ettore Gliozzi in front of goal.
Four minutes after Novakovich was subbed out in favor of undoubted future Olive Garden spokesman and former Italy international Kevin Lasagna, the less enjoyably named Pedro Mendes headed in a deep, 62nd-minue free kick from the left side to secure the victory for Modena.
The result leaves Bari winless after two games, with their next match on Tuesday evening at home against Sassuolo.
Notes
Weston McKennie was an unused substitute for Juventus on Monday night in their 3-0 road win over Hellas Verona. The Texan was in uniform after an inactive off-season, and will inevitably end up as one of Juve’s most important players in the just-started season as had been the case the last few seasons. Tim Weah is recovering from a hamstring injury and missed Monday’s game.
Venezia picked up their first point of the season in a scoreless road draw at Fiorentina without either of their Americans participating. Gianluca Busio is still recovering from an injury suffered during his recent trip to Paris for the summer Olympics, while Tanner Tessmann is embroiled in transfer drama and not in the team’s plans for the season. Venezia next take the field at home on Friday against Torino.
Jonathan Klinsmann was on the bench as backup keeper for Cesena’s 2-1 road loss at Sassuolo on Saturday. The career backup will be hard-pressed to see much of any action in Serie B this season barring an injury disaster between the sticks.
Kristoffer Lund was relegated to Palermo’s bench for their Serie B matchup at Pisa on Saturday. The team lost 2-0, with an early own-goal dooming their chance of taking anything from the contest. Lund entered the game with seven minutes left in regulation, with the result already effectively decided.