GdS: Supercoppa effect wears off instantly – wasteful Milan drop more precious points | OneFootball

Many fans were hoping the Supercoppa Italiana win would spark a good run in the league from AC Milan, but that came crashing down instantly.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes this morning, the emotional wave of the Super Cup for Milan turned out to be just a bluff. The Rossoneri returned to Serie A action last night, for the first time since Sergio Conceicao became coach, but the result did not change.

Instead, they were held to a 1-1 draw by Cagliari and a missed opportunity to gain points on teams like Juventus and Lazio, who played before them and drew with Torino and Como respectively. And so, the Champions League places remain far away.

The paper writes how this is a different Milan in terms of style. Under Paulo Fonseca they appeared timid and confused by the end and now they play more immediate and concrete football, with greater aggression.

Yet, especially in the first half, the electricity with which the Rossoneri approached the game – which is visible – was not translated into big chances. Cagliari were deep and compact, Milan tried to break through through the centre but without taking advantage of midfield runners and overlaps.

In the second half the attitude was the same and Conceicao also changed something from a tactical point of view. The problem was not creating opportunities, which were plentiful, but the ability to take them.

After taking the lead with Alvaro Morata, also following a crossbar hit by Pulisic, the Rossoneri committed a big error leading to the equaliser. Youssouf Fofana who gave the ball to the opponents and did not stop them with a foul, then Mike Maignan allowed a pretty tame shot underneath him.

The equaliser came in the 55th minute and Milan had the ability to throw themselves back into attacking. However, Pulisic first and then Abraham twice missed big chances to re-take the lead. The wastefulness cost two points which the team simply cannot afford to drop at the moment.