It had to him, it had to now, it was as if AC Milan were bound to be saved by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Rossoneri weren’t at their lethal best, but they did enough to break their three matches winless run. As they won 2-0 against a struggling Cagliari side.
AC Milan turn it around after a slow start
Stefano Pioli made several changes to his side after their draw against Sampdoria. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the most high profile inclusion in the team. As the Swedish striker got his first start after joining the club on a free transfer. He replaced Krzysztof Piatek in the team, who is being chased by Premier League side Tottenham Hotspurs.
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Cagliari made just two changes to his side from their last match, which they lost against the Serie A champions Juventus. Paolo Farago and Fabio Pisacane came in for Sebastian Walukiewicz and Fabrizio Cacciatore.
It wasn’t the best of the starts for Stefano Pioli’s men as they started slowly but steadily grew into the game.
It was a goalless first-half which saw both teams looking dangerous at times but none produced a clear cut chance. Though AC Milan finished the half as the more dominating team.
Second half was far more eventful with the Rossoneri opening the scoring in the 48th minute itself.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores on his first start
Conceicao Leao was put through by a Sami Castillejo long ball which he skilful got in control, though he couldn’t apply a neat finish but had enough behind the ball to get it through to Robin Olsen‘s goal.
While the first goal was crappy from Leao, the second goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovic was from the top drawer. The former Barcelona forward applied a first-time finish from a Theo Hernandez cutback in 61st minute to double Milan’s lead.
With that Rolando Maran’s men lost their fourth match on the trot in the Serie A.
What the managers said
Stefano Pioli, AC Milan manager
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“Today we have put in a different performance compared to the last one. We were more effective. Zlatan is an important reference point. It will still take some time to understand each other better, but the victory is deserved.
Ronaldo Maran, Cagliari manager
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“I’d say we had the better of the first half, but then we conceded a goal too cheaply within 30 seconds of the restart. After that incident, we were unable to get back into that rhythm.”
“It’s a difficult time for us, things are going negatively and that influences our confidence. We must be more solid in defence and not keep conceding so many goals, because it becomes difficult to get back on track after that.”