Match Recap: Milan come from behind to beat Parma 2-1

AC Milan bounced back from the loss at home to Juventus and the road draw to Lazio with a good 2-1 win over Parma at the San Siro today. A fine individual goal from Patrick Cutrone and a well-taken spot kick from Franck Kessie gave Milan all three points as they came from a 1-0 second half deficit to grab the win at home.

Milan dominated the early minutes of the match, but Parma had a brilliant chance that was wasted, as Antonio Barilla was wide open in the box, but he was unable to get a good first touch on the ball. The ball bounced off of him and while Parma were able to win a corner from the sequence, the visitors would have wanted more from it than just a corner kick.

Milan responded by going close on a couple different occasions, with a cross from Davide Calabria across the face of goal perhaps the best chance for Milan, as a streaking Patrick Cutrone missed the ball coming across the face of goal by what seemed like only inches.

Otherwise, Milan dominated the first half, with a vast majority of possession and a bulk of the chances. Milan had 67% possession at the half, and also had eight attempts on goal, with three of them on target, compared to the shots from Parma, who were unable to get any of them on target and to force a save from Gigio Donnarumma.

Milan also had a majority of the chances from dead-ball situations, but the best chance of the first half from a set piece came from Parma, as Ricardo Gagliolo had a wide open header that went wide.

Parma would take an early lead in the second half, as the visitors would open the scoring from a corner kick. Roberto Inglese got free at the near post, and directed his header into the back of the net for an unlikely lead. The warning signs had been there for Milan, as they had allowed an open header in the first half, but it was still disappointing to see such an open header.

Fabio Borini was brought on right after the Parma goal, with Jose Mauri making way for a more attacking player as Milan seemed to go from a 4-3-3 to a more attacking 4-4-2.

Parma’s leads wouldn’t last for long, however, as Cutrone got one back after a few minutes from a brilliant individual effort. Cutrone took the ball in the box, somehow beat his man and launched a shot that bounced off the far post and into the back of the net.

Again, Milan need a goal and are looking for someone to provide a spark, and again, Cutrone is the one to step up with a great individual effort to score.

Milan was awarded a penalty after the referee seemed to take a small eternity consulting VAR, but finally it was determined that a Parma played had played the ball with his hand (well, forearm) and the spot kick was converted by Kessie in the 70th minute.

Parma and Milan would traded missed chances, with both Franck Kessie and Patrick Cutrone taking poor shots from very good positions. Kessie had a fairly open shot in the box, but put it over the net, while Cutrone took too long after getting the ball with acres of space in the box as he looked for a better angle.

Parma also fluffed an easy chance, as a Alberto Grassi was played into the box, but he somehow couldn’t convert a wide-open chance on net, sparing Milan’s blushes.

Samu Catillejo came on for Suso in the 90th minute, and the referee awarded six minutes of stoppage time to make up for all of the talking he had done with the VAR official. Milan would see all six minutes out fairly easily, and take a 2-1 win which could have easily been an even bigger win with a just a tad better finishing.