And on comes Cassano!

Rodney Strasser

Cagliari 0 AC Milan 1

Bright starts don't often end brightly. It did though, midweek. Cagliari welcomed a decimated AC Milan to the St' Elia. Donadoni was facing his former side and so was Allegri. Vintage stuff. Pato and Robinho shaped up the attack with Merkel positioned behind them. Silva had the double duty of defending for Bonera for the Italian was included in the line-up. Cassano made it to the bench.

After having started brightly, Milan found it very hard to break the Sardinian defense. Canini, Astori and Pisano stood strong against our pacy forwards while our midfield were scratching their heads in bewilderment. Ibrahimovic's strength was sorely missed in this game. Robinho resembled hollow man for much of the half with the rest of the team being sluggish in attack. Milan lacked creativity or cohesion in the midfield. Cagliari's midfield was running ragged and the home side clearly dominated the first half. Seedorf was woeful as usual and in current form, shouldn't even make the bench. Ambrosini wasn't the anchor man for this game. Perhaps we should have had one. Cossu enjoyed the space in the midfield but had a bad game nonetheless. The lack of legs in Milan didn't help the likes of Lazzari too, who appeared to be trying to hard to impress. Donadoni's full backs were thriving and constantly got the better of their counterparts. Crosses were floating in but Matri and Nene were found wanting for more.

Pato had the best chance that was gifted to Milan that evening but he shot right at the keeper. I choose not to compliment Agazzi on the save because the shot was directed at him! He didn't have much to do but take the beating. Abbiati, on the other end went cuckoo momentarily and nearly provided Nene with an assist but made amends. Strasser came on for a withering Gattuso on the 58th minute. Almost instantly, the midfield awoke from deep slumber. Robinho was sent through by Pato on the 66' but the Brazilian's first touch was nothing short of horrible. Cassano arrived on the 74' minute with Merkel making way. To be honest, at that point in time, I was wondering why Merkel was being taken off. The youngster was involved in all of Milan's attack and had showed admirable work ethic. But later, I saw that it was a good decision. Cassano combined with Robinho and set up Strasser for the winner. The 20 year old's first goal at Serie A level. Tears of joy streamed down his face as the Milan camp rushed to bombard him with their congratulations. It took 88 minutes to break the deadlock. It would have been broken a lot earlier if not for Thiago Silva who is on course to prove that he is the best centre back in the world. Cagliari played fearlessly and with heart. This attitude very nearly earned them a point. Against Milan these days, that is a lot more than one could imagine.

Cagliari - /
Milan - Strasser 88'