A Domenico Berardi hat-trick has seen Sassuolo defeat a nine man AC Milan outfit 3-2 at the Stadio Città del Tricolore on Sunday night.
Following an impressive victory against Roma last weekend, Milan coach Pippo Inzaghi would have been hoping that his side could make it back-to-back victories for the first time in 2015. However, those hopes were quickly extinguished by Berardi, who scored a controversial opener.
The Juventus loanee struck a dipping volley from long range which was spilt by Diego Lopez, who recovered the ball before it seemingly crossed the line. Despite the goalkeeper’s protests, the goal was given in the 13th minute.
Berardi then doubled his tally just after the half hour mark, with the Azzuri international running onto a though ball before slotting into the corner past Lopez to make it 2-0 for the hosts.
Just two minutes later, Milan got one back though Giacomo Bonaventura, who poked the ball past Andrea Consigli to get his side back in the contest.
Just six minutes after half time, Milan found itself level with Alex rising highest to nod home an equaliser. The goal was controversial itself, with Consigli feeling he had been fouled by the former PSG man in the lead up. Despite the home side’s protests, the goal was given.
But just as Milan seemed to be getting a foothold on the contest, Bonaventura was shown a second booking for a deliberate handball just before the hour mark.
Despite some brilliant goalkeeping from Lopez to deny Berardi late in the second half, the Sassuolo front man had the last laugh, sealing his hat-trick with a typical poacher’s finish on the back of some great work from Simone Zaza, slotting home for a 3-2 lead in the 77th minute.
Things went from bad to worse in stoppage time as Suso was shown a red card for a poor tackle to compound Milan and its coach Inzaghi’s misery.
AC Milan, Berardi’s whipping boys
If one thing is for certain after last night’s match, it’s that on-loan Berardi loves playing against AC Milan.
In the corresponding fixture between the two sides last season, Berardi scored all four goals in a magnificent display to secure a 4-3 victory, which virtually secured the fate of then coach Massimiliano Allegri in January 2014. It was a similar story last night with Milan coach Pippo Inzaghi’s job hanging by a thread.
That night, Berardi truly announced himself as a potential star of Italian football and despite having a solid campaign this time around, he had not really taken his game to the next level as expected.
In this match, however, there was a feeling that Berardi was back to his devastating best, with his clinical finishing display up there with the best in Italian football.
Undisciplined Milan only with itself to blame
As frustrated as Inzaghi would be after yet another lacklustre performance from his side, he will be more unhappy with the manner in which his side went down, with two more sending offs leaving the club with the second worst disciplinary record in the league. The Rossoneri have picked up 95 yellow cards and nine red cards this season.
The likes of Jeremy Menez, Sully Muntari, Phillippe Mexes and now Bonaventura and Suso have been guilty of falling foul when things are not going their way this season with Menez having missed the club’s last three matches through suspension.
Although Bonaventura’s second booking for a handball may have been harsh, the decision to raise his hands above his face was reckless and in the end cost his side the points The visitors struggled to cope with Sassuolo after his sending off with still half an hour to play.
With new ownership set to potentially change things this season, those who cannot keep their heads when the going gets tough will most definitely be moved on as Milan seeks to rebuild for the 2015-16 campaign.
Time for goal line technology in Italy?
Following the match, all the talk was about Berardi’s ‘ghost goal’ which opened the scoring for the hosts.
Replays clearly showed that the whole ball did not cross the goal line and despite having a goal line official standing just a metre away, the decision ended up costing Milan the points.
With goal line technology already successfully used in a number of European countries including England, calls will be stronger than ever to implement the technology in Italy which will ensure that these so called ‘ghost goals’ are no longer an issue.
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