Christian Pulisic and AC Milan began the new Serie A season with a stinker against promoted Cremonese, while Jonathan Klinsmann did his best to grab Mauricio Pochettino’s attention with a decent showing in Serie B.
AC Milan 1 – 2 Cremonese
Massimiliano Allegri’s second spell at AC Milan started off about as well as the morning after eating a two week-old Taco Bell burrito, with the team simply blowing a lot of hot air despite their overall dominance, as Christian Pulisic and his teammates fell at home to newly-promoted Cremonese on Saturday.
Despite the overall disappointing result from both the team and coach, Pulisic still put on a decent showing, although far from one of his best. He took a couple shots, one of which forced a save following a corner, and created four additional chances, although lacked much of the bite he had shown in last weekend’s cup game and the team’s earlier exhibition against Liverpool.
The Rossoneri were infuriatingly wasteful, holding nearly two-thirds of possession, taking a remarkable 24 total shots, putting six of those on frame, but still coming away empty-handed against a newly promoted team that is expected to struggle.
Federico Baschirotto put the guests on the board first just past the 27-minute mark, sneaking through several defenders near the penalty spot, and positioning himself perfectly to head in Alessio Zerbin’s cross from deep in the left flank.
Just before the halftime whistle, Alexis Saelemaekers did well to maintain possession to the left of the Cremonese area despite a collision with Zerbin, after which he slid a short pass forward to Pervis Estupinán. The Ecuadorian midfielder cut to the endline and chipped a high cross towards the far post, which Strahinja Pavlovic headed down and just inside the lower right corner.
Milan did nearly take control shortly into the second half, with Luca Modric rocketing a shot from 25 yards that was just pushed over the crossbar, followed by Pulisic’s low attempt from 18 yards on the ensuing corner. However, their continued inability to truly trouble the Cremonese goal beyond that short flourish ultimately doomed the hosts.
Just past the hour, Federico Bonazzoli netted the winner with what will surely be recorded one of the highlight goals of the season, even after the Serie A champion has been crowned in around nine months. Guiseppe Pezzella lofted a long cross from the left towards the far upper corner of the six-yard box, where Federico Bonazzoli took flight, and emphatically put the ball away just inside the near post with a eye-popping overhead kick.
Allegri will be justifiably criticized for his lack of adjustments in the game, only using three of the five allowed substitutes, one of which came at the half, and none of which came in the last 15 minutes as the Rossoneri desperately flailed to even equalize the score.
As such, Yunus Musah didn’t make it off of Milan’s bench for the duration, although some fans might also interpret this as a sign that there is some truth to the rumors swirling of an imminent transfer to Atalanta.
Adjustments will surely be made to the lineup prior to Milan’s next game, a visit to Lecce on Friday, however Pulisic’s spot should in the starting XI should be safe in any case.
Pescara 1 – 3 Cesena
Just days after his impressive, yet unrewarded penalty-shootout performance, Jonathan Klinsmann tasted victory in Cesena’s goal on Friday as they began their Serie B season with a relatively smooth win on the road over Pescara.
The American made three saves in the game and distributed the ball decently, with Pescara’s lone goal coming largely due to an excellent attempt by the attacker.
Jalen Blesa put Cesena ahead in the 31st minute, combining with Tommaso Berti on the charge to have an easy finish into an open net, however Giacomo Olzer equalized four minutes later by beating Klinsmann with a screamer from the edge of the area that flew into the right side of goal.
The guests took control in the second half, with Christian Shpendi firing from near the spot for the 2-1 lead, and Dimitri Bisoli finishing the job in the 63rd minute by pouncing on a spill by Pescara’s keeper to put away the team’s third and final goal.
Klinsmann will be back in action on Saturday when the team hosts promoted Virtus Entella, and might be entertaining vague dreams of receiving a call from Mauricio Pochettino when the upcoming USMNT roster is announced later this week.
Highlights of the game can be seen here.
Venezia 2 – 1 Bari
Gianluca Busio began his fifth season in Venezia with a win, playing the full 90 minutes in midfield to help the team rack up a straightforward win over Bari.
Busio was his usual consistent self in the Venezia midfield, completing 31 out of 38 passes, taking four shots and creating an additional two chances.
Bjarki Steinn Bjarkason got the scoring underway for the hosts in the ninth minute, pouncing on a loose ball after Issa Doumbi’s initial shot was blocked, putting away the followup to the lower left corner.
After John Yeboah saw what looked to be the 2-0 called back for offside, Bari equalized in the 26th when Mehdi Dorval’s deflected shot from the left of the area was eventually ruled a goal, despite an initial and incorrect offside call by the officiating crew.
However, Alfred Duncan put the Venetians ahead for good two minutes before the break, nailing a spectacular, 30-plus-yard screamer from out of nowhere for the 2-1 winner.
Combined with their recent Coppa Italia win, the team is looking set to challenge for promotion to continue their yo-yo journey between the top two divisions. They are back on the field on Saturday when they visit Juve Stabia.
Highlights of the game can be seen here.
Notes
Weston McKennie was a garbage-time substitute for Juventus on Sunday night, entering the game in the 89th minute with the team already up 2-0 against Parma. The game ended on that score, and the American will hope to see more time next Sunday when they visit Genoa. The game was unfortunately marred by reports of some Parma fans screaming racial abuse at the American as he warmed up, which if true, could and should lead to penalties for the team.
Two days after signing for Reggiana, Andrija Novakovich made his debut for the club on Saturday in their 2-1 road loss at Palermo. The American entered the game with his team down by a goal and searching for an equalizer, but was limited in his action, with only four touches and no shots. The team next hosts Empoli on Friday.
