Three consecutive wins, two of those quite convincing, and one hard-fought victory – achieved in the Derby della Madonnina. It seemed that Paulo Fonseca was on the right track, AC Milan was on the rise, but then they stumbled on their visit to Fiorentina. There, they encountered David de Gea in his prime form, reminiscent of his days at Manchester United. Even back then, the Spanish goalkeeper wasn’t known as a penalty specialist, but last night, as if he hadn’t been away from football for a year, he saved two penalties taken by Milan players, easing Rafael Paladino’s team’s path to victory, their second league win since the season’s start – 2-1 (1-0).The white chalk penalty spot on the grass of Stadio Artemio Franchi was cursed dark last night. Referee Luca Pairetto awarded three penalties in the closing match of Serie A’s seventh round, yet none of the players managed to convert them into goals. It’s often said that football is a game of mistakes, and this week in Florence, there were plenty from both teams, on both ends of the pitch, in defense and attack.In their attempts to pull their team backwards, Moise Kean on one side and Theo Hernandez on the other took the lead. Both made almost identical mistakes as they missed and conceded penalties, but given the final outcome, the French defender will definitely take the title of the game’s tragic figure.##NAJAVA_MECA_8389009##And last night, he was everything but a defender, even less so a captain. To be fair, he did lead Milan at Artemio Franchi — but into disaster. With a reckless intervention midway through the first half, he gave Kean the chance to put the hosts in front, then squandered a similar opportunity from the penalty spot to bring his team back to life. To top it off, after the match, he rounded off his awful performance with a red card for protesting… Considering how he played, he might benefit from some time to cool down.Kean, on the other hand, has been playing very well since the start of the season, scoring six goals across all competitions since his arrival at the club. But tonight, things just didn’t go his way. He is partly to blame, given that in the 22nd minute, he poorly executed a penalty, making it easy for Maignan. He was also unlucky, as two of his goals were — rightfully — disallowed for offside.##EDITORS_CHOICE##His tough night was best illustrated in stoppage time when his powerful shot from the edge of the box bounced off the crossbar and landed just in front of the goal line. If nothing else, he redeemed himself somewhat with an assist for the winning goal, when he skillfully chested down a long ball to Albert Gudmundsson, who slammed it into the near corner in the 73rd minute.Earlier, the Rossoneri were stung by their former player Yacine Adli. Last summer, he refused to leave the club, hoping to prove himself at San Siro. But he eventually realized it wouldn’t be easy and accepted Fiorentina’s offer in late August. Tonight, he showed that he might have the quality to play for the Milanese giants — this version of the Rossoneri, at least. He picked up the ball near the corner flag, turned Christian Pulisic around, and launched a shot from the edge of the box into the far corner.In February, Christian Pulisic was named AC Milan’s designated penalty taker.Pulisic has NEVER missed a penalty in his professional career for both club and country. He’s 10/10.After his pass drew the penalty against Fiorentina, Theo Hernández stepped up to take it & missed. pic.twitter.com/FXJHzTvsz3— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) October 6, 2024 Then came the implosion of Fiorentina. They conceded a penalty in stoppage time of the first half and another early in the second half. Yet, even those opportunities weren’t enough for Milan to get back into the game. They changed penalty takers, with Theo Hernandez taking the first and then Tammy Abraham — though Christian Pulisic is the designated penalty taker — but De Gea read their intentions, becoming the first goalkeeper to save two penalties in a Serie A match since Federico Marchetti did so for Lazio against Carpi in May 2016.Four minutes after denying the second penalty, De Gea was powerless. Christian Pulisic caught him off guard by deciding to shoot from a tough position after Hernandez’s cross — it seemed like he intended to pass to Abraham — placing the long ball into the far corner on his first touch.It was the 60th minute, and Milan had plenty of time to chase a comeback and secure their fourth consecutive win. But instead, they not only failed but seemed to lack the creativity to do so. The only serious threat came in the 86th minute when substitute Samuel Chukwueze cleverly shot towards the far corner, but De Gea was ready once again.David de Gea, Fiorentina’s penalty-saving hero 🦸♂️#FiorentinaMilan pic.twitter.com/cCxrXvtBdf— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) October 7, 2024 Fonseca was furious with his players for changing the designated penalty takers, even though it was known that Pulisic is the main penalty taker.”Of course, I am upset that the players changed the penalty taker. Pulisic should be taking them. This must never happen again; I made that clear to the players,” Fonseca stated after a tense post-match meeting with his team.He then addressed the shortcomings in their play:”In the first half, we lacked aggression. The first goal we conceded came from a lack of intensity. In the second half, we were more aggressive and created more chances, but when you miss two penalties, it’s hard to win a match.”Penalty festival in Turin: Juve fall short against CagliariHe also touched on the referee’s decisions regarding the penalties, describing the overall situation as a circus:”As a football lover, I don’t want to contribute to this circus. Nowadays, everything is a penalty, whether it’s in our favor or against us. They blow the whistle for the slightest contact. I don’t want to get into that.”Media outlets in Italy believe that the lack of player rotation has been a major factor in Milan’s struggles with the 4-4-2 system.”I think we’ve done well with this group of players so far. It’s not like Fiorentina created a lot of chances. What we lacked was being aggressive,” Fonseca reiterated.SERIE A – MATCHDAY 7Friday Napoli – Como 3-1 (1-1)/McTominay 1, Lukaku 53 pen, Neres 86 – Streffeza 43/Verona – Venezia 2-1 (1-1)/Tengstendt 9, Joronen 81 – Oristanio 2/Saturday Udinese – Lecce 1-0 (0-0)/Zemura 75/Atalanta – Genoa 5-1 (1-0)/Retegui 24, 50, 74, Ederson 60, De Roon 80 – Ekhator 83/Inter – Torino 3-2 (2-1)/Thuram 25, 35, 60 – Zapata 36, Vlasic 86 pen/Sunday Juventus – Cagliari 1-1 (1-0)/Vlahovic 15 pen – Marin 88pen/Bologna – Parma 0-0Lazio – Empoli 2-1 (1-1)/Zaccagni 45+4, Pedro 84 – Esposito 9/Monza – Roma 1-1 (0-0)/Mota 70 – Dovbyk 61/Fiorentina – Milan 2-1 (1-0)/Adli 35, Gudmundsson 73 – Pulisic 60/
