Sampdoria vs. AC Milan: Winners and Losers from Serie a Match
AC Milan have only lost once in their past five games, but in that same span they have won just once as well. The bulk of those games were draws, and so was the latest, a 2-2 tie with Sampdoria on Saturday.
The game started well enough. It took Stephan El Shaarawy nine minutes to score his first goal in 622 days. Milan were pressing for a second, and they strung together pass after pass.
But they lost control of the game just before the end of the first half, when Stefano Okaka beat Milan to a ball in the six-yard box and tipped it in.
Eder and Jeremy Menez each scored in a topsy-turvy second half, and Daniele Bonera was sent off for the second time in this young Serie A season.
Let's look at the highlights and lowlights.
El Shaarawy with His Best Outing
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The one thing El Shaarawy needed was a goal. Without one, he looked hopeless and aimless and miserable altogether. So after he floated the ball into the Sampdoria net, he was overcome with emotion. Keisuke Honda went to him as if to say, “I knew you would do it.”
But the goal was not the only thing he managed. The 22-year-old finally showed some confidence. He owned the field. He put in lots of effort (once to keep the ball out), made great runs (several times to open up the Sampdoria defence) and was sure to come back and defend.
Milan are a better team in possession, but El Shaarawy offered lots of pace on the counterattack, giving this rather one-dimensional team another element.
Mexes Way Too Casual for Milan
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With both Alex and Ignazio Abate out injured, it was up to coach Filippo Inzaghi to give the Frenchman Philippe Mexes his first start of the season. And Mexes showed exactly why he is not capable of stepping in.
On the first Sampdoria goal, Mexes was lost and out of position. On other occasions, he would push up without any care for the consequences. He showed absolutely no ambition to run back and chase the blown assignment.
He picked up a yellow card, of course, and he was one foul away from a red.
Bonera Still Milan's Biggest Liability
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The captain yet again was Daniele Bonera—a disgrace to the tradition of this club. How a stumbling 33-year-old even gets playing time on this team is a cause of much consternation.
What’s worse, he left the field early, picking up his second red card of the season after barging into Okaka.
Abate was injured, and instead of giving Pablo Armero—who is an actual fullback—his first start of the year, Inzaghi chose to play Bonera.
Bonera is barely capable of playing as a centre-back, let alone a right-back. And yet he plays, and Inzaghi somehow sees the good in him.
“It’s a shame Bonera was sent off,” the coach told Sky Sport Italia (h/t Football Italia) after the match, “as he had a great game, and we will really miss him in the derby.”
This is surely a joke.
Okaka Turning Heads at Sampdoria
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Okaka has played all over Italy, but he is still 25 with lots left to give. And he has found a home at Sampdoria.
Okaka used sheer will to beat Bonera for the first goal, right at the cusp of half-time. It was a display of the striker’s resolve to get stuck in dangerous areas.
It was just his second goal of the year, but it was another impressive performance.
In July, he said his goal was to make the Italian national team. Given Azzurri coach Antonio Conte’s willingness to rotate the strikers and try new ones out, Okaka could get a call-up very soon.
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