Parma vs. AC Milan: Rossoneri Finding Their Identity After 2nd Straight Win

By the end of it, they looked shocked on the sidelines.

Mattia De Sciglio just scored in his own net and goalkeeper Diego Lopez appeared to pull his muscle trying to prevent the embarrassment. Coach Pippo Inzaghi and his assistant Mauro Tassotti stood with blank stares, then started pointing furiously. 

Milan had already scored five goals, but Parma also had four of their own. Inzaghi said it would have been a shame if they lost, per Sky Sport Italia (h/t Football Italia). And despite eight extra minutes of stoppage time, the Rossoneri avoided any further calamities and won 5-4 on Sunday.

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The last time Milan were involved in a Serie A match with 9+ goals was in 1992: Fiorentina 3-7 Milan. #SerieA #ForzaMilan

— AC Milan News (@Milanello) September 14, 2014"

They had not won two games in a row to start a Serie A season since 2006, back when Carlo Ancelotti was still the coach. And maybe there is a little Ancelotti in Inzaghi, who has this team playing with a sense of togetherness for the first time in years. 

After Giacomo Bonaventura scored the first goal—on his debut, no less—he and his teammates sprinted toward Inzaghi, and they all shared hugs. When Nigel de Jong ran half the field and poked the ball past the Parma goalkeeper Antonio Mirante for Milan’s fourth score of the game, he stood in front of the fans and saluted them. They were playing for each other, for the jersey, just as Inzaghi hoped. 

“This is the spirit of Milan,” Inzaghi said in the same report. “I don’t know how far we can go, but I am very proud to be the coach of this team.”

Inzaghi said his team executed some of the plays that they had practised in training, but they also “conceded on every chance that we allowed.” After all, this game could not be scripted. It was a mess. There were two red cards. There was luck, that own goal and a penalty. It was ridiculous and fantastic, inspiring and depressing all in one. Both teams played a portion of time with 10 men, and they had to make changes on the go. 

Two things are certain: Milan can attack but they cannot defend. They had difficulty marking Parma in their own box, and they allowed two goals off headers.

The first came from Antonio Cassano. He continues to torment Milan. Cassano has four goals in five games against Milan since leaving the club in 2012. Back then he said he “counted for very little.

“This time I’m not the one who got it wrong,” he said in a 2012 press conference (h/t Football Italia).

But Milan pushed forward and kept going for the goal, and De Jong made sure of it. Simply put, he was immense. He is not a destroyer, not a reckless midfielder. He makes little passes that matter, sometime longer ones. But Milan always go through him. He had 92 touches in the game, more than any other player, according to WhoScored.com. He also made 91 percent of his passes.

Marco Vasini/Associated Press

He is not known for individual brilliance, but on Sunday he heaved and stretched his limits as he carried the ball by himself down the stretch of the field and found the net. It was his fourth goal for Milan, and it was a reminder of the desire this man has. 

The game started with Daniele Bonera as captain, but it is really De Jong who most embodies the soul of the team Inzaghi wants: Relentless, passionate, fit. 

Bonera was a disaster once again. He was at fault for a goal, and he earned himself a red card when he put up his arm to block a shot on the edge of the box. 

It is a wonder how the 33-year-old continues to get playing time under several different managers. Adil Rami is a much more reliable defender, and he even paid €500,000 of his own cash just to join Milan. Surely he deserves to start, but Rami only came on when Bonera was sent off. 

Keisuke Honda was also sacrificed when Bonera left the field, and the Japanese gave a little nod as he made his way to the touchline. He realized his time was up. Honda knew the stakes, he understood why he had to be substituted for Cristian Zapata, another defender.

But before that, Honda gave one of his best performances in a Milan jersey, setting up the first goal and scoring the second. He now has two goals in two Serie A matches.

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Keisuke Honda: Has scored more goal in his 2 Serie A apps this season (2) than he managed in his 14 apps last season (1) #ParmaMilan

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) September 14, 2014"

Honda did not get to enjoy last season with Milan. He had to wait until January to join the team from CSKA Moscow, spending time training away in Japan. In a matter of months, he played under three different coaches. He was sluggish and slow and uninventive. He was not playing like Keisuke Honda. 

It was unfair to judge him then. Not now. Now he is hustling and dashing around defenders, finding gaps and playing like a winger. He is much harder to track. He even scored off a header. Honda has more of a presence on the field.

But the biggest surprise is Jeremy Menez. He was the man of this ridiculous match. Forget the fact that he scored three goals in his first two games: More importantly, Menez creates and runs. He is at the centre of almost every attack. He completed 97 percent of his passes, per WhoScored.com, which also gave him a perfect rating. 

Of course, he scored that goal. He charged at the goalkeeper, slipped a pass to himself and scored off a back-heel.

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Jeremy Menez did it his way. https://t.co/KoOCJ3JGjw #Milan

— KICKTV (@KICKTV) September 14, 2014"

Before that, he dribbled and tricked defenders and ran right at them. It’s only two games, very early in the season, but he is playing with the kind of arrogance that’s been missing from Milan. Inzaghi said after the match, per the same source, that this is a team that “so badly needs confidence,” and Menez has it. 

Menez was the coach’s first signing. Inzaghi went to Ibiza to meet with him. “He convinced me straight away so I chose Milan,” Menez said in August, per Forza Italian Football. “I feel a great understanding with the coach, I cannot fail because he is giving me so much.” 

Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Inzaghi believed in Menez when many did not. He was released from Paris Saint-Germain after his contract expired. Now he is trying to reverse the reputation he has. He wants to prove that he is not the bad boy.

“I have already changed for a few years,” Menez told Sky Sport Italia after the match (h/t Football Italia), “but people have this image of me. I feel good, this team and the Coach helped me a great deal and I am happy at Milan."

In the stands watching all of this madness was Fernando Torres, who was supposed to make his debut on the night. Barely anyone noticed by the end.