Serie A Report: Five In Sixteen Minutes As Milan Slaughter Ascoli It’s raining goals from the Rossoneri as Milan consolidated their hold on fourth place in Serie A and closed in on a Lazio who were only capable of a stale draw at the OlÃmpico. The Del Duca performance leaves Milan pumped up to ensure a CL place next season whereas Ascoli had the stripes beaten off them despite two goals and now look at a tough struggle to avoid the drop...
Ascoli 2 - 5 AC Milan
The Rossoneri had been hit with a mini injury blight of late as Dida, Cafú, Maldini and Brocchi were all laid up and out of action. Nevertheless, Ancelotti’s men went for the win like a pit-bull goes for a toddler.
Lombardi beat his side’s own offside trap as Ronaldo flicked the ball to Gilardino (3 min) to finish the move off and put the 0-1 up in lights. The Fenômeno did hit the back of the net, but the number 99’s effort was disallowed by an arguable offside call.
There was a speedy bit of samba as Ronaldo and Kaka screamed forward in a breakneck counter attack, Eleftheropoulos bringing the ex-Real Madrid man down for a penalty, but it was Kakà (25 min) who converted the kick to make it 0-2 and start off a furious burst of scoring.
Gilardino (27 min) wasn’t too proud not to go down on his knees and nod in a Marek Jankulovski cross.
Ascoli came back temporarily as Guberti ran between the Milan centre-backs and Kalac returned Eleftheropoulos’ favour by giving away a penalty that Luigi Di Biagio (33 min) converted.
Ronaldo lucked out through an offside call as the Brazilian scored again but the goal didn’t stand. Kakà (25 min) followed up with a trademark wire-guided missile that flew past a flying Eleftheropoulos at the near post.
Ascoli narrowed the gap again as Milan lost focus with the break coming up and the dizzying sequence of goals, both allowed and disallowed. Corallo sold the Rossoneri defense a dummy that they bought wholesale and Guberti (41 min) angled a drive into the far corner.
The second half started with a little déjà vu as Paolucci had his goal disallowed for shoving Bonera on the edge of Kalac’s box and the action was decidedly less energetic than the first half, both Ascoli and Milan seemingly having exhausted their goal scoring ability and margin for error.
The scoreline moved just once after the hectic first half, Clarence Seedorf (75 min) chesting down an Andrea Pirlo pass and lobbing an Eleftheropoulos who must have been longing for the final whistle and a huge glass of Ouzo.
With the three points safely in the bag, Ancelotti gave Milan fans a new face as he made 22 year-old Argentinean defender Leandro Grimi debut in Serie A, although the ex-Huracan player had made his official debut with the Rossoneri in a Coppa Italia match against Serie B team Arezzo (2-0).
ASCOLI (2): 33 D Eleftheropoulos; 79 M Melara, 18 S Pesce, 14 L Di Biagio, 23 R Corallo, 31 P Foglio, 3 S Lombardi, 21 V Boudianski, 17 S Guberti, 99 A Soncin and 9 M Paolucci
Subs: 25 M Bonanni, 20 G Perrulli, 24 M Del Vecchio, 8 M Fini, 32 V Nastase, 22 G Vastola, 1 G Pagliuca
AC MILAN (5): 16 Z Kalac; 13 A Nesta, 25 D Bonera, 44 M Oddo, 18 M Jankulovski, 10 C Seedorf, 22 R Kakà , 23 M Ambrosini, 21 A Pirlo, 11 A Gilardino and 99 L Ronaldo
Subs: 26 M Storari, 17 D Simic, 24 L Grimi, 8 I Gattuso, 7 R Oliveira, 20 Y Gourcuff, 4 K Kaladze
Goals: 3' [0 - 1] A. Gilardino 25' [0 - 2] Kaka (pen.), 27' [0 - 3] A. Gilardino, 33' [1 - 3] L.D. Biagio (pen.), 35' [1 - 4] Kaka, D. Eleftheropoulos, 41' [2 - 4], 75' [2 - 5] C. Seedorf
Yellow Cards: 14' M. Melara, 24' S. Guberti, 43' R. Corallo, 55' S. Lombardi, 58' G. Gattuso, 59' D. Bonera, 61' P. Foglio
Highlights
GOAL: Ascoli 0, Milan 1. Alberto Gilardino (3 min - Milan) The Rossoneri front line worked well as Gila right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner after being set up by an unselfish Ronaldo.
GOAL: Ascoli 0, Milan 2. Penalty conceded by Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos as the local goalie fouls Ronaldo Fenômeno in the penalty area. Kakà (25 min - Milan) Kakà converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
GOAL: Ascoli 0, Milan 3. Alberto Gilardino (27 min - Milan) headed in from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal, netting a good Marek Jankulovski cross.
GOAL: Ascoli 1, Milan 3. Luigi Di Biagio (33 min - Ascoli) The keeper-centred spot kicks continued as Zeljko Kalac fouled Stefano Guberti in the penalty area, but the last goal scorer cedes the spot kick to Di Biagio who converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the centre of the goal.
GOAL: Ascoli 1, Milan 4. Kakà (35 min - Milan) Simone Pesce concedes a corner and the number 22 connects a vicious right footed shot from into Eleftheropoulos’ bottom right-hand corner.
GOAL: Ascoli 2, Milan 4. Stefano Guberti (41 min - Ascoli) Simone Pesce used a set piece situation to set the Bianconeri up for right-footer that beat Kalac from the left side of the box.
GOAL: Ascoli 2, Milan 5. Clarence Seedorf (75 min - Milan) Andrea Pirlo assist the Dutch number 10 to right foot a shot from the right side of the box into the centre of the goal.
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