thankfully, only 2

Milan 2 Wofsburg 2
After the thrashing at the hands of Juventus over the weekend, AC Milan were hell bent on straightening things in the UEFA Cup game midweek. We were hosting German club, Wolfsburg. Hunting down the wolves would have been high on the agenda, but thats not what happened. Germans shouldn't have been too difficult, one look at the Bundesliga table, and it would be hard to spot this German club. Pretty much gives a picture of how strong this club really are, but Milan couldn't capitalize. The visitors were 2 points ahead of us as they had won their previous two encounters. With both these clubs already qualified, the top spot would be up for the grabs. Former Serie A heroes, Barzagli and Zaccardo were making a return to home soil after departing from Palermo over the summer.

Both teams started slow, and within the first ten minutes Senderos injured himself doing the medics at Milanello a great favor. Kaladze replaced him, so the risk factor hadn't changed much at the back. Not very much later, a corner from Seedorf was headed in with great finesse into the bottom corner of the goal by the captain Ambrosini. His headers are truelly a delight to watch. After Milan went ahead, a comfortable night was expected. The visitors started to press for the equalizer but the home team tried to control the tempo of the game. A siren went of in the home camp when after 25 minutes a shot from Dzzeko crashed against the bar. Shevchenko made a rare mistake on a well built counter attack to throw away a goal scoring opportunity. The game was fairly entertaining though radically low on quality. These are trademarks of the Bundesliga and Milan have begun to become a perfect fit for these standards. The Rossoneri defense continued to show its inability to defend crosses and set pieces. Inzaghi was as usual standing offside whenever his team got the ball, so the opportunities ended with Inzaghi messing up his positioning. The game continued down the same pattern before the referee haulted play for half time.

Dzeko had a few chances after play resumed, and Wolfsburg seemed like they wanted a goal desperately, with Milan trying to keep possession. The home side dint seem to press enough nor was the defense strong enough to hold up for the rest of the game. Inzaghi had a chance as Ambrosini put him through but the poacher lost his balance (how unusual, not!), and hit the ball straight to the keeper. Ancelloti became a bit bold as he replaced Pirlo with Pato, and this had its consequences because almost immediately, Wolfsburgs' accurate passing was rewarded with a goal by Zaccardo. The passing and movement left the Milan defense dizzy. Barely after Wolfsburg scored, the home side found an opening, and Pato finished like a composed striker, something that had become of a rarity to him after his move away from Brazil. Milan had changed into a 4-3-3 from a 4-4-2 and this provided Wolfsburg more time and space in the middle, and they started dictating the midfield. Inzaghi then had another of his numerous chances and even this time failed to find the back of the net. The Germans were finding it hard to keep up with Pato because his pace was simply beyond theirs. He did have a chance which fell to Inzaghi which required a quick reaction, but this was beyond the Italian, as he is 35. Later Dzeko's cross found Saglik unmarked inside the box but his header was directed straight at Dida. Dzeko, who was running the game for Wolfsburg intercepted a weak pass and bore down on goal. If not for the pressure by Kaladze, it could have resulted in a goal. But the Germans had nothing to worry, because barely 20 seconds later they equalized, as Krzynowek long range effort was deflected by Saglik into the goal. Milan tried to score with the remaining few minutes ticking down on them, but they simply couldn't.

Dida definitely saved further humiliation, the defenders were quite woeful as usual. Clarence Seedorf was trying hard in the midfield with Ambrosini but their success rate was limited. Zambrotta was running around the park, and the running seemed aimless from where I was sitting. Inzaghi was wasteful as ever, but the bright sparks certainly were Pato and Shevchenko who were making the German defense sweat. Anyway, Udinese are coming home, but I doubt Milan are going to enjoy their Christmas this season.

http://in.youtube.com/watch?eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.101greatgoals.com%2Fvideodisplay%2F1873798%2F&v=Tw62-vRtYD0

Goalscorers -
Milan - Ambrosini (15'), Pato (56')
Wolfsburg - Zaccardo (55'), Saglik (81')