AC Milan Women 1-6 Juventus: Rossonere suffer heavy defeat in Coppa Italia | OneFootball

AC Milan Women were battered badly by their Torinese rivals, Juventus, last Saturday. They lost by a score of 6-1 in what was their heaviest defeat in both the Coppa Italia and in Italy.

Juventus now have a five-goal away goal advantage that they’ll take with them back to Torino. Here’s a recap of how this awful defeat came to be…

The lineups

AC Milan (3-4-3): Giuliani; Codina, Agard, Fusetti (71′ Stapelfeldt); Thrige, Adami (78′ Selimhodzic), Grimshaw, Tucceri Cimini; Thomas, Longo, Bergamaschi

Juventus (4-3-3): Peyraud-Magnin; Lundorf (64′ Hyyrynen), Gama, Sembrant, Boattin; Cernoia (70′ Zamanian), Pedersen (81′ Caruso), Grosso (81′ Rosucci); Bonansea (64′ Bonfantini), Girelli, Nildén

The match

The match at the Vismara kicked off with intensity, with Miriam Longo and Valentina Bergamaschi spearheading an attack that looked particularly threatening. However, it was the guests who took the lead as Juventus pulled ahead with their first chance of the match. Cristina Girelli was left unmarked and headed Barbara Bonansea’s corner into the back of the net (9’).

The Rossonere tried to quickly respond, as Lindsey Thomas had a shot on target in the twelfth minute. Unfortunately for her, Pauline Peyraud-Magnin thwarted her attempt. The first fifteen minutes of the game were very lively, though the game eventually began to calm down.

Milan began to control possession while Juve defended diligently and tried to hit them on the counterattack. This strategy would eventually pay off at the 30th minute, a Bianconere break led to Sofie Pedersen playing the ball to Amanda Nildén, who then finished it off with an incredible goal. And just like that, Milan were behind their guests by a score of 2-0. Right before the half-time whistle, Bergamaschi had a chance to halve the deficit, but she wasn’t able to convert her golden opportunity.

Milan positively started the second half, as Longo’s left-footed shot went past the post in the 47th minute. Then, about five minutes later, Laia Codina had two opportunities from two consecutive Rossonere corners, as the young defender tried to head home two goals. Unfortunately, neither of her chances were converted. Not content with just scoring goals, Cristiana Girelli also put in the work defensively, as she made a goal-line clearance with her head to preserve the visitors’ lead. Then, at the 62nd minute, the same player would make it 3-0 for the visitors, as her powerful right-footed strike sailed past Giuliani and into the back of the net.

Juve’s defence was forced to batten down the hatches as they would doggedly prevent Milan from scoring. Linda Tucceri Cimini, (67’), then Greta Adami (72’), and Captain Bergamaschi (73’) all tested Peyraud-Magnin’s resolve, but she rose to the occasion every single time. The shot-stopper’s defence would also provide ample assistance to them, as Lisa Boattin made a fine goal-line clearance to keep her team in the lead. The French goalkeeper produced another stop in the 81st minute, keeping out a powerful right-footed effort from Nina Stapelfeldt.

Then, three minutes later, the away side put the game to bed for good, as Martina Rosucci pounced on Annahita Zamanian’s shot and was there to convert the rebound (84′). At one point in time, Zamanian was actually linked to a move to Milan. In the end, she chose to play for the Bianconere. The final few minutes saw substitute Agnese Bonfantini bag two goals on the counter (88′ and 91′). Milan would get their sole consolation goal in the 92nd minute, as Thomas would finally score after converting a corner.

And to add insult to injury, Bonfantini is a self-professed Milanista too.

The ref then blew the final whistle and the Rossonere’s misery came to an end. Milan lost the match by a score of 6-1. It was their most ignominious defeat in either league or Coppa Italia play.

The stats

Despite having created more scoring opportunities and outshooting their opponents by a ratio of fifteen to eleven, Milan could only convert one goal. They also had eight shots in the penalty area but could only score one of them. Juve had more possession, as they had the ball 53.1% of the time.

The Bianconere thoroughly outclassed their opponents and unlike Milan, they were clinical and capable of converting their chances. In the end, they were the deserved victors.

Up next

Milan will resume league play with a match against AS Roma. The match will take place on Saturday, March 19th. The game will be played at the Stadio Tre Fontane in Rome, and kickoff time will be at 15:30 CET.