Serie A: Catania 0:2 AC Milan - match report

Scorer: Huntelaar 93, 94 (M)

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar broke his Milan duck with two stoppage-time goals in Catania, as the Rossoneri go second!

The Rossoneri would fly into second place with a victory here and, with Andrea Pirlo suspended, reshuffled their squad. Mathieu Flamini came in for a 4-2-3-1 system that had Clarence Seedorf, Ronaldinho and Alexandre Pato supporting Marco Borriello. Ignazio Abate stood in for the injured Massimo Oddo, while Thiago Silva was able to start despite sustaining a muscular problem in the warm-up.


Kick-off was delayed by a couple of minutes so a hole in the net could be fixed. Seedorf had the first chance, hitting it on to the side-netting from Pato's assist after six minutes. Gilberto Martinez almost made the most of a Nelson Dida error, but the goalkeeper was able to reclaim the fumbled ball.

Seedorf blasted over from outside the box, but Catania also threatened when Spolli and Bellusci exchanged headers in the box, the latter unable to get the final effort on target.

Dida plucked an Alvarez snapshot out of the air and Flamini was booked for a sliding tackle on Taka Morimoto.

Borriello smacked a shot first-time from Gianluca Zambrotta's low cross, forcing Mariano Andujar to smother. Ronaldinho also flashed a free kick past the far post.

Morimoto was flagged offside when clear on goal, although the decision saved his blushes, as he had dragged wide with only Dida to beat.

In the second half free kicks from Cristian Llama and Ronaldinho both landed on the roof of the net. Pato's effort took a deflection to flash inches past the base of the near post.

Morimoto's first touch let him down on the counter, then he ran into the box and fell under pressure from Thiago Silva, but the referee waved play on, as contact appeared to be minimal.

Luca Antonini replaced Zambrotta, but Catania were improving and after Massimo Ambrosini cleared a dangerous corner away from Silvestre, Marco Biagianti's strike was deflected. From that corner, Spolli didn't get enough power to his header when springing the offside trap - a golden opportunity.

Pippo Inzaghi replaced Borriello and almost scored with his first touch, as he got into the box on Ronaldinho's pass and Silvestre bravely came sliding in to block the shot from point-blank range.

A well-worked move between Dinho and Antonini ended with Seedorf's screamer just over the bar. Adrian Ricchiuti came on for Morimoto, as both teams were eager to get full points.

Milan came extremely close 10 minutes from time when Ronaldinho tried to curl it in directly from the corner flag, thumping the upright! As the move continued, Inzaghi was booked for a scuffle with Silvestre.

At the other end a free kick whistled its way through the penalty area with Ricchiuti unable to make strong enough contact.

Inzaghi only got a glancing header on Ignazio Abate's cross from the right. As a last-gasp attempt to get a goal, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar replaced Flamini, putting Seedorf into a deeper role.

Inzaghi swept over again from Abate's cross, then another deflected Abate assist was palmed out for a corner. However, from this set piece Thiago Silva was dispossessed to launch a very dangerous Catania counter, ruined by Mariano Izco's offside position.

With 20 seconds left in the four minutes of stoppages, Huntelaar finally scored his first goal in a Milan jersey! He knocked on a long ball for Inzaghi, who flicked it back and the Dutchman's half-volley somehow squirmed through Andujar's grasp. It was a bit of a howler from the goalkeeper, but a very important strike for 'The Hunter.'

It was immediately obvious what a difference it made to his confidence, as moments later he spun round on the edge of the box and delightfully lobbed the helpless Andujar!

Catania: Andujar; Bellusci, Silvestre, Spolli, Alvarez; Biagianti, Carboni, Llama (Izco 61); Martinez, Mascara (Potenza 86); Morimoto (Ricchiuti 76)

Milan: Dida; Abate, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Zambrotta (Antonini 66); Flamini (Huntelaar 83), Ambrosini; Pato, Seedorf, Ronaldinho; Borriello (Inzaghi 74)

Ref: Brighi



Sumber: Acmilan-online.com