AC Milan 3-1 Reggina
The rossoneri came from behind to defeat 3-1 Reggina at the San Siro and continue their positive run in Serie A after inaugurating the new year with the convincing victory at the 'Olimpico' stadium on Tuesday. It was heavily stressed on the eve of the match that facing the Calabrian side could be even more difficult than the big clash at Roma. And it actually was, although Milan demonstrated that they have become more mature than last season, when they lost important ground against the small teams.
The visitors started strongly and from their first attack took the lead thanks to a bundled in effort from defender Stefano Torrisi following a corner on the left. After a period of sustained Milan pressure, the equaliser was soon in coming: Kaka turned on the edge of the area and anticipating Belardi's movement, hit a terrific low shot into the corner of the net.
Ancelotti made one change at the restart, introducing midfielder Massimo Ambrosini for Clarence Seedorf. Reggina tried to react but the rossoneri were enjoying most of possession and took the lead in the 57th minute, as Gennaro Gattuso's cross was only half-cleared by Sottil, with the ball striking Kaka and flying into the visitors' net. The former Sao Paolo star, who had been inspirational for the whole game, was lucky enough to seal his first double in Serie A and twenty minutes later also won a penalty kick for Milan. Pirlo made no mistake from the spot with a 'spooned' penalty kick which gently lobbed over the stranded Belardi to secure the hosts all the points.
MILAN: Dida; Cafu , Costacurta, Maldini, Serginho; Gattuso (87' Brocchi), Pirlo, Seedorf (46' Ambrosini) ; Rui Costa , Kaka (85' Redondo); Shevchenko.
REGGINA: Belardi; Jiranek, Sottil, Torrisi; Mesto, Baiocco, Tedesco, Falsini; Cozza (83' Martinez); Di Michele (74' Dall’Acqua), Bonazzoli (74' Leon).
GOALS: 0-1, 2' Torrisi; 1-1, 9' Kaka; 2-1, 57' Kaka; 3-1, 72' Pirlo (pen).
Source: acmilan.it
