AC Milan suffered a bitterly disappointing 2-1 defeat to Spezia on Monday night, although the end was mired with controversy.
The Rossoneri took the lead just before half-time through Rafael Leao, but after conceding soon into the second half, the visitors secured all three points with a last-minute goal through Gyasi.
READ MORE: How Rafael Leao is maturing into key player Milan hoped he would become
However, that came after Milan had a goal ruled out of our own just moments earlier, with the referee failing to play advantage as Messias Junior’s goal was chalked off and play was pulled back for our free-kick on the edge of the box.
It proved to be a decisive and costly moment for us, but ultimately, while we’re right to be furious with the refereeing, Milan also have themselves massively to blame for the overall performance.
Awful refereeing proves costly for Milan
Ultimately, the late decision from Marco Serra was decisive to the outcome of the game.
Our goal, which should have stood had he not been so hasty to blow his whistle, would have most likely ended the encounter in our favour and secured three important points on a night where we weren’t at our best.
Instead, it completed deflated our late push and while there’s still no excuse for us conceding and ending on the losing side, it was a major moment that influenced the result.
Wasteful Rossoneri also have themselves to blame
That said, Milan had 61 percent possession and a total of 25 attempted shots. Chance after chance went begging and Theo Hernandez even missed from the penalty spot.
This should have been a comfortable and routine home win to apply serious pressure on Inter, but it was our inability to be clinical and ruthless in front of goal which set up the scenario at the end.
Milan fans have all seen this story play out time and time again. If we don’t take our chances, we usually get punished at the other end of the pitch. If we don’t learn this lesson, we’ll have more nights like this one.
Fine margins, big blow in Scudetto race
Milan are very much in a Serie A title race this season. The table tells us that, and our progression having secured a top-four finish last year would suggest that is the next step.
However, these results can prove so costly as ultimately the margins are so fine when you have a handful of sides all with the same objective and at the end of the campaign, these are the kind of setbacks that you look back at and remember.
We’ve seen it before when battling for fourth place in recent years, and it’s hoped that we can get back on track immediately and put this game behind us quickly to ensure we don’t have any similar slip-ups.
Leao continues to impress
While he was also guilty of being wasteful in the first half, Leao was a constant threat to Spezia with his pace, movement and directness on the ball causing them real problems.
It’s a continuation of what has been a really good season for the Portuguese winger so far, and it’s hoped that not only can he continue to produce like this but also continues to take his game to the next level.
With Milan struggling to show enough quality elsewhere on the pitch, they’ve certainly been boosted by Leao’s growing influence on our play this year as that’s now eight goals and five assists in 23 appearances.
Lack of quality depth exposed
It’s a reoccurring theme for Milan that we seem to continue to struggle with a lack of quality depth in the squad.
We’re missing a whole host of key individuals currently, with Fikayo Tomori, Simon Kjaer, Alessio Romagnoli, Ismael Bennacer, Franck Kessie and others unavailable.
Any side would struggle without that calibre of player coupled with their influence when playing, but the drop off from our strongest XI to the team being put out against Spezia this week is concerning as we simply lost a game that we should have won.