Milan Futuro 1-0 SPAL: Sandri penalty secures lead ahead of second leg | OneFootball

Milan Futuro prevailed by the odd goal in the first leg of the relegation play-off against SPAL. Mattia Sandri was the big hero with a converted penalty, securing an aggregate lead ahead of the second leg.

Massimo Oddo headed into the game with a bit of a dilemma, with no striker available in the squad. Francesco Camarda isn’t eligible to play in the relegation play-offs after not playing enough during the regular season, while the veteran Andrea Magrassi is out injured.

As such, the manager opted for a 3-5-2 formation with Chaka Traore and Simone Ianesi up front, both normally wingers. Thankfully, it’s a move that paid off for the Futuro – or as much as it could anyway – as we saw on the first goal.

Indeed, in the 32nd minute, it was Chaka Traore who won a penalty after being brought down in the box. He was fouled from behind and midfielder Mattia Sandri placed the ball on the spot, converting with great calmness to give Milan the lead.

Oddo’s boys continued to play well after that and perhaps could have deserved one, if not two, goals to really crown the performance. Without a proper striker, however, it was sometimes difficult for them to make the most of the chances.

In the second half, the gravity of the situation seemed to hit Milan a bit more as SPAL gained momentum. The Rossoneri still had chances, but Davide Bartesaghi notably made a great block to deny the away side an equaliser.

Thankfully, they were able to see out the game and thus have a one-goal lead to defend away at SPAL next week. While they could have scored more than one goal, getting the win is the most important thing and we saw some very encouraging signs tonight.