AS Roma 0 – 1 AC Milan

AS Roma 0 – 1 AC Milan

Stadio Olimpico (73, 261)

Goal Scorers

Calhanoglu (Bonaventura)

Allison (pictured) angry at his defense for allowing Calhanoglu to score

It’s match day here as New World Order season starts off today. AS Roma face AC Milan at home in the Stadio Olimpico. AS Roma managed by Fert Dert will be looking to start with a win against AC Milan but with AC Milan signing Ineista, this may prove to be a tough match. Dzeko will have to be on top of his game if he is to get past the captain Bonucci.

The pressure will surely be on the home side as the fans will want to see a fight. This is sure to be an entertaining match for the neutrals as both teams know each other very well having played in the Serie A. When asked in his pre- match conference whether anything less than a win would be acceptable, Fert said that he has fielded the best team he can that can put up a fight and knows that it might not be an easy match.

AS Roma took to the field with a 4-3-3(B) with De Rossi as the captain. Having used this formation throughout the pre-season, Fert was sure that it could do the job against Milan. No new signing was making their debut today, but we may see some in the cup especially the new striker Vietto as he is part of the team bench today.

AS Roma line up:

Alisson(89)

A Florenzi (91) M Gonalons (90) K Manolas (91) A Kolarov (90)

D De Rossi (c) (92)

K Strootman (91) R Nainggolan (93)

D Perotti (90) S El Shaarawy (90)

E Dzeko (92)

As for the AC Milan which is managed by Shaun Laffey who went with a 4-2-3-1(B) formation captained by Bonucci. The team started out with:

G Donnarumma (89)

I Abate (89) L Bonucci (c) (95) M Musacchio (90) A Romagnoli (90)

R Montolivo (90) L Biglia (91)

G Bonaventura (91) A Iniesta (95) H Calhanoglu (91)

C Bacca(91)

Iniesta makes his debut today in the attacking midfield and will be the man to watch as even though he is old, he still has a few tricks up his sleeve. AC Milan will also be hoping to start this match with a win as 3 points is very important especially at the early stage of the season.

First Half:

The game started in front of 73,221 people in the Stadio Olimpico. Dzeko and Nainggolan started the kickoff and decided to pass the ball around the back. A chance came in the 4th minute for Perotti as Gonalons passed the ball to him but unfortunately, he blasted the shot over the bar. It didn’t take more than one minute for AC Milan to respond with a goal as in the 5th minute Bonaventura passed to Calhanoglu who shot the ball past the keeper and into the goal post. Alisson was angry at the defense for allowing Milan to attack. De Rossi got a yellow card in the 13th minute for pulling Iniesta’s shirt. De Rossi was frustrated that Iniesta was keeping the ball so well. AS Roma continued to press for a goal but couldn’t find it. The more they attacked, the more AC Milan responded with a counter attack. Dzeko was through going against two defenders but Biglia brought him down and received a yellow card. The referee blew for half time as AS Roma were gutted they couldn’t finish their chances well. The two keepers have been busy as they’ve managed to keep this match from having more goals. The score remains 1 – 0 with Milan leading at the break.

Second Half:

The second kicked off with AC Milan starting the match. AS Roma are hoping that they can find an equalizer before the 90th minute. Abate took down Nainggolan and received a yellow card in the 48th minute. The defender better careful so as not to receive another one. In the 51st minute, Manolas not wanting Bonaventura to assist another goal pulled the player’s shirt and received a yellow. This is starting to turn into a physical match as both teams are frustrated. Alisson makes a huge save to keep Bacca from scoring in the 57th minute. It seems that he is frustrated with his defense for allowing Milan to continue to attack. Bacca receives the ball from Biglia and scores but unfortunately the linesman waved his flag for offside. Bacca was angry with the decision as he had already started celebrating. It’s a free kick to Milan as Florenzi tackled Kalinic and was booked. The free kick was a waste and Alisson made sure to save it. Last chance for Roma with a free kick as Kalinic brought down Strootman. Strootman crossed the ball to Kolarov but was disappointed as he couldn’t score. The referee blew the whistle as match ended 1 – 0 to AC Milan to take the 3 points.

FULL TIME: 0 – 1

MOTM: Hakan Calhanoglu

Post Match Conference:

Reporters caught up with Fert and asked for his comments about the match. Fert replied that he was disappointed that his team couldn’t take his chances and with Perotti out injured for 10 days, he’s not sure who to play in his place. He also commented about the match being too physical as so many yellow cards were given. He hopes team can make a come back against Manchester City in the next match. When asked whether Vietto would be starting on Thursday, he said that Vietto would have to impress him during training to start. Reporters also managed to catch up with De Rossi and asked for a comment. Here was what the captain had to say, “We were gutted not to have finished the chances that we had. Hopefully the boys can pick themselves up and perform better in the next match.”