Jose Sosa and Gianluca Lapadula Contrast Perfectly as AC Milan Beat Crotone

AC Milan’s 2-1 victory over Crotone at the San Siro on Sunday afternoon was experienced differently by Gianluca Lapadula and Jose Sosa. For the former, it was a match to remember; for the latter, a match to forget.

Both players joined the Rossoneri over the summer as part of a rebuilding process. Both were not seen as particularly exciting signatures. Neither had positive previous experience of Serie A. And that is where the similarities end.

Since arriving in August, Sosa has endured a difficult time at Milan. Coach Vincenzo Montella has used the Argentinian sparingly, giving him only four opportunities in the starting lineup. On the evidence available, this has been for the betterment of the team.

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In his last outing during the 1-0 win over Pescara in late October, the playmaker looked out of place in a right-sided role within the central midfield three. He often made his forward runs too early, removing himself as a passing option for team-mates. And, if his attacking surges were mistimed, his tendency to drift wide was misunderstood.

However, after sitting out throughout November, Sosa was brought back into the fold for the clash with Crotone, a match that was expected to yield three simple points for Milan. The plan very nearly backfired.

After just seven minutes, the 31-year-old, capped 19 times by his country, went close with an impressive effort from outside the penalty area. The ball sat up nicely, and connecting with a sweet right-footed strike, he fired just over the away side’s crossbar.

But Sosa’s next two efforts of a similar kind could scarcely have ended up further away from the goal. Seemingly drawn towards Row Z, he lashed two hopeful and inaccurate strikes well over and well wide as the home crowd groaned in frustration.

Refusing to indulge his proclivity for spectacular long-range attempts any further, the midfielder concentrated on supplying chances for his team-mates. But he was foiled in this respect too. Responsible for corners and free-kicks, on more than one occasion he failed to beat his first man with his cross.

With Sosa standing in for the injured Giacomo Bonaventura, who—as discussed in this previous post—is one of the team’s most influential players, Milan were unable to pick the Crotone lock. Subsequently, there was an air of inevitability about the relegation-threatened visitors' taking the lead on 26 minutes.

Swedish winger Marcus Rohden was bundled over inside the Rossoneri penalty area by Mattia De Sciglio, but he nonetheless played on and managed to find Diego Falcinelli with a square pass. The striker, who has been in form of late, tapped in for his fifth league goal in 13 appearances this term.

Sosa did show some classy touches and at times combined well with M’Baye Niang down the left flank. Ultimately though, regardless of how sophisticated his back-heels were, they didn’t lead to an equalising goal. That eventually came not through his eye-catching twists and turns, but through a header from his midfield team-mate Mario Pasalic.

With some intelligent movement inside the Crotone box, the Croatian found space and nodded home after a Gabriel Paletta flick-on from a corner. It wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing of strikes, but it got the job done.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said of Sosa, who continued to prove ineffectual in the early stages of the second half. His was a game of flicks, tricks and mishits, and, after picking up a yellow card following a poor tackle born out of annoyance, he was taken off to the sound of boos from the Milan support.

All in all, he didn’t make one single important pass, was dispossessed twice and miscontrolled five times in what was an instantly forgettable individual display.

Yet, while Sosa’s struggles continued against Crotone, Lapadula’s rise to cult hero status gained momentum. The striker once again took the place of the injured Carlos Bacca and didn’t let the team down with his combination of ceaseless movement and end product.

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In early November, the 26-year-old scored his first goal for Milan. A crafty finish to divert home a Suso shot ensured all three points away to Palermo and, in the days following his maiden Serie A strike, he was handed a call-up to the Italy national team.

Then on 26 November, away to Empoli, Lapadula scored twice to help fire his side to a 4-1 win. His opening goal that day was a supremely composed first-touch finish; his second was more power than precision after cutting inside his marker.

Beyond the finishes, the striker has impressed both Milan fans and Montella with his propensity for hard work. The former Pescara man never stops running, battles for every ball and is a genuine team player. Nonetheless, he was desperate to get his first goal at the San Siro against Crotone.

He was, therefore, disappointed to have the ball taken off him by Niang having won a penalty in the second half. Having already missed from close range, Lapadula saw the spot-kick as the perfect chance to increase his tally to four league goals this season. But his French attacking colleague decided against this, taking and missing a golden opportunity.

Milan looked set to drop two crucial points in the race for a top-three place and, as the crowd grew more restless by the minute, Crotone threatened on the break. Gianluigi Donnarumma was forced into a save when an ominously fast attacking transition by the away side, organised well by coach Davide Nicola, led to a shot on target from Marcello Trotta.

But, as the game appeared to be petering out to a certain draw, Lapadula stepped up once again.

On 86 minutes, Keisuke Honda whipped in a free-kick from the left-hand side. Crotone failed to clear and the ball fell to Lapadula’s feet. Reacting quickly, he controlled before finding the net with an instinctive right-footed finish. In doing so, he opened his account at San Siro in the most dramatic fashion possible.

Wheeling away towards the bench, he took his shirt off in celebration before being mobbed and dragged to the ground by ecstatic team-mates, in front of exultant fans. Minutes later he was brought off to an ovation, his status as match-winner sealed.

Lapadula had been the anti-Sosa. He only had 24 touches overall, but he got the most important one. “I’m in good form, but I haven’t done anything yet,” he told Sky Sport Italia (h/t Football Italia) after the match. “This is just the start of our important journey together.”

While the striker was modesty personified in spite of the crucial late winner, his coach was more enthused.

“He’s in the middle of a great fairy-tale,” said Montella of his striker when talking to Sky Sport Italia (h/t Football Italia). “Over the last month his prospects and status have changed, all of it earned with hard work and sweat. I hope this sporting determination never leaves him. Up until two months ago Lapadula hadn’t even made his Serie A debut. Now he’s proving he deserves this shirt, with or without Bacca.”

Sosa may have missed his latest chance to make an impact, but Lapadula took his emphatically. As a result, Milan may have a new first-choice striker, and their fans a new cult hero to worship.

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