AC Milan beat Austria Wien to progress in Europe

Thank the lord the game got better as time went on. After an abysmal opening period where Bonucci pulled out some FIFA type glitch and let the ball slide right by for the opening goal, Milan appeared to wake up. Although I found myself thinking “well at least Montella will get fired”, those thoughts were quickly dashed after Borini’s cross deflected off a defender and found a wide-open Ricardo Rodriguez who smashed it home to even the score. Shortly after, a Rossoneri free kick deflected off an Austria Wien defender right to Andre Silva who slotted home his 5^th of the competition. It wasn’t long until Cutrone netted a wonderful header to make it 3-1 at the half.

At the start of the break the game was relatively calm, but obviously in Milan’s favor. Andre Silva’s 6^th of the competition, putting him level with Rigoni of Zenit for top scorer, surely killed all hopes from Austria Wien of coming back. To add insult to injury, Cutrone put one in the back of the net in the 90’ after some lovely build up play sparked by Locatelli in the midfield. This game ensured Milan’s qualification into the round of 32 and while it was a sound victory on the scoreboard, the opening play needs to be better or we can kiss UCL hopes goodbye. Milan is back in action Sunday (Nov. 26^th) against Mihalovic’s Torino. The Rossoneri will likely focus on quieting Belotti throughout the night and will look to revitalize their Serie A campaign.