AC Milan has eased to victory against a disappointing Torino outfit in the club’s penultimate home match of the season at the San Siro on Monday morning.
Having taken an early lead though Stephan El Shaarawy, Milan was reduced to ten men following the sending off of Christian Zaccardo on the stroke of half time.
Any fears of a Torino comeback were dashed after the break though, as Giampaolo Pazzini stepped up to score from the spot before El Shaarawy grabbed a second to seal the victory.
The result sees Milan virtually guarantee a top half finish with coach Pippo Inzaghi said to be facing the axe following the final match of the season away at Atlanta.
One major positive of the match was the return to form for injury-plagued youngster El Shaarawy, who was the best player on the pitch.
The winger opened the scoring with a fantastic half volley from Zaccardo’s ball into the area, with the former Genoa man controlling the ball before unleashing a low volley past Daniele Padelli.
Zaccardo was then became a villain just minutes before half time with the former World Cup-winning defender shown a straight red card for a cynical challenge on Christian Molinaro who was clean through on goal.
Playing in what was rumoured to be his final home match for the club, former Inter man Pazzini slotted home from the spot to give Milan a two-goal lead in the 57th minute before El Shaarawy sealed the win with a classy placed finish following some good build up play to make it 3-0 Milan.
A season of what ifs for El Shaarawy
It has been a tumultuous past 18 months for wonder kid El Shaarawy with the Italy international having been constantly dogged by injury since his breakout 2012-13 season.
Having made only six first team appearances last season, Il Faraone has only made 17 appearances this term, scoring three goals with most of those appearances off the bench.
Last night’s performance, however, reminded many of the talent which saw the Egyptian-born striker compared with the likes of Roberto Baggio when he broke onto the scene under Massimiliano Allegri at the helm.
Milan coach Pippo Inzaghi, who played alongside El Shaarawy during his final season as a player in 2011-12, will be wondering what might have been for Milan had El Shaarawy been fit for the majority of the campaign with the Rossoneri having to rely on the individual brilliance of Jeremy Menez for goals far too often this campaign.
Another red card the major concern for Milan
It is an issue which seems to be mentioned week after week, but yet again, Milan has finished a match with ten men following the red card to Zaccardo.
Despite starting the match brightly, providing the assist for El Shaarawy, the former Parma man let himself and his teammates down with a late challenge on Molinaro, with the referee rightly showing the veteran a red card.
Fortunately for the Rossoneri, later goals to Pazzini and El Shaarawy guaranteed the points but far too many times this season, Milan has had men sent off.
This season, Milan has been shown 13 red cards in 37 matches played, with Mattia De Sciglio and Daniele Bonera having been shown two each along with the likes of Jeremy Menez, Phillippe Mexes, Giacomo Bonaventura, Diego Lopez, Suso, Pablo Armero, Christian Zapata and Michael Essien.
This lack of discipline will need to be addressed in the offseason as the club will need players who can keep a cool head under pressure if they really want to challenge for Europe next season.
Should Milan keep Inzaghi?
It is the question which is lingering amongst all Milan fans: should the Rossoneri give club legend Pippo Inzaghi another chance to prove his worth as a manager or should the club finally get someone with experience coaching at the highest level, such as Carlo Ancelotti or Jorgen Klopp?
On one hand you can argue that Milan’s misfortunes have not been entirely Inzaghi’s fault, with club management unwilling to invest in the squad, buying cheap players for low prices or picking up free agents whose contracts had expired.
This has meant that Inzaghi has a squad which is lacking significant quality in key areas and unlike his counterparts at big clubs such as Napoli, Juventus and Roma, the former striker has not been allowed to spend big in order to contest for Champions League places.
On the other hand though, Inzaghi has shown inconsistency with his tactical decisions, his summer signings for the most part were poor (with the likes of Alessio Cerci and Suso only playing bit part roles) and the need for an experienced coach is crucial following the stints of both Clarence Seedorf and Inzaghi.
A decision is not likely to be made for some time, however, with the final match of the season still to play before the club is expected to go through a buy-out in the offseason with a foreign bidder rumoured to be ready to buy a majority stake in the club.
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