Sassuolo 0-0 AC Milan Women: Rossonere fail to take advantage of early red card | OneFootball

The AC Milan Women were held to a stalemate by Sassuolo on Saturday as the team couldn’t make the most of having a one-player advantage for over 75 minutes.

As a result, the Rossonere currently sit in fourth place on the league table while Sassuolo hangs onto third. Here’s a recap of how the game went down…

The formations

Sassuolo (3-5-2): Lemey; Orsi, Dongus, Filangeri; Santoro, Pondini (90′ Ferrato), Mihashi, Philtjens; Bugeja (56′ Parisi), Clelland (78′ Brignoli), Dubcova

AC Milan (3-4-3): Giuliani; Fusetti, Agard, Codina; Guagni (12′ Jane), Grimshaw, Adami (84′ Boureille), Tucceri Cimini; Thomas, Stapelfeldt (84′ Árnadóttir), Bergamaschi

The match

The game between Milan and Sassuolo saw a five-minute delay before kickoff. That was because the Serie A Femminile teams had their fixtures delayed by five minutes to bring awareness to the conflict in Ukraine, just like their male counterparts did. Once the game started, it was a temperamental affair, characterized by the two sides constantly fouling each other.

Milan’s Lindsey Thomas would have the dubious honor of getting the game’s first yellow card in the fifth minute. However, the tables would turn when Orsi brought down Lindsey Thomas on the edge of the box and was shown a red card (14′).

The Rossonere were then given a free-kick but scuffed their chance to put themselves ahead. In total, there were five cards issued to players from both teams before the break.

Milan would have another wrench thrown into their plans when Alia Guagni was taken off after ten minutes due to an injury. Refiloe Jane, who was fresh off helping South Africa qualify for AWCON, took her place.

Chances were few and far between but Kamila Dubcová nearly put the hosts ahead with a short-range header in the 36th minute. Thankfully, Laura Giuliani was there to stop it. The shot-stopper was truly Milan’s MVP of the match, as she almost single-handedly kept her team in the game. Diede Lemey also had a good match at the opposite end, as she denied Christy Grimshaw twice, both in the 41st and 45th minute.

The start of the second half wasn’t played at the highest tempo but the Rossonere had a scare in the 66th minute when Dubcová nearly put the hosts ahead, again. Thankfully, Linda Tucceri Cimini was in the right place at the right time and cleared her effort off the line.

The Rossonere would eventually get on the front foot again thanks to Christy Grimshaw, who had three opportunities in the span of a few minutes. She first had a shot blocked in the 68th minute, then sent her effort over the target in the 74th, before being denied by Lemey in the 76th.

History would be made in the 84th minute, as Celeste Boureille was substituted into the match and made her league debut for the team. She is the first-ever American to play for Milan, and had little time to make an impact at such a late stage in the game.

Two minutes before that, Lemey made yet another save, this time to deny Lindsey Thomas. That was the final murmur of the game, and in the end, both teams flatlined.

The match ended in a goalless draw.

The stats

Despite having the majority of possession and outshooting their opponents by a ratio of 16 to 6, Milan couldn’t make the most of their chances. They could not convert any of their shots and ended the game without a single goal. It was a disappointing display by the team.

The Rossonere truly felt the loss of Martina Piemonte, who missed the game due to injury. They’ll have to pick up the pieces and find goals elsewhere if they want to mount a challenge for silverware and qualify for Europe next season.

Up next

Milan will take on S.S.D. Napoli next Sunday. The match will be played at the Vismara and kickoff time will be at 14:30 CET.

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