Siena v AC Milan - 22nd August

SIENA: Curci - Rossettini, Ficagna, Brandao, Del Grosso - Vergassola, Codrea, Fini - Jarolim - Ghezzal, Maccarone
MILAN: Storari - Zambrotta, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Jankulovski - Gattuso, Pirlo, Flamini - Ronaldinho - Pato, Borriello

First day of the Serie A season and my first Serie A game in quite a while, since Channel 5 stopped their coverage, no other English channel had picked up the coverage, the problem is the general fan in the UK still has this negative view on Italian football, defensive football, no goals, and is still considered boring, The problem stems from the teams they get to see, always Inter, Milan or Juve and Roma if they are playing English teams in the Champions League, I remember saying how good Roma were and they played great football, then they went to Old Trafford and got destroyed, not good for my defense of the league, Serie A however has many good teams outside the big names, Genoa, Palermo, Napoli and Sampdoria to name a few.

So last night I sat down to watch Siena v Milan, looking through the Siena squad only a couple of names were recognisable, Romanian midfielder Codrea, Czech midfielder Jarolim and ex-Middlesbrough forward Massimo Maccarone, so alot of new players to see and enjoy.

With Milan it haas been a stormy summer, Ancelotti gone, Maldini retired, and Kaka moving to Madrid, and the players coming in have not satified the Rossoneri faithful, In defence, Gooch Onyewu the big American centre half has been brought in, although he had a bad time at Newcastle on loan, he is a player that i've always like when he's played for the USA, so I think he could settle in well. Klass Jan Huntelaar was not the striker Milan fans wanted, can he settle in Italy, although people say he wasn't as good for Real but 8 goals in 20 games with an injury is a good record for me.

Both new players didn't start new coach Leonardo went for Borriello and Pato upfront with Ronaldinho behind them, could Ronnie blossom again without Kaka.

Milan struck first, Ronaldinho slipped the ball into Pato's path and without breaking stride he placed it past Curci, lovely ball for Ronnie, and throughout the whole game he was behind most of Milan's best moves, If he can stay fit, and hungry, I can see him having a good season, maybe just in time for South Africa.

The Milan goal seemed to wake up Siena, with Maccarone making some strong runs down the left channel and Fini trying to pick a pass, it paid off, the ball was played into Jarolim, he turned and hit a low shot, Storari could only parry it, and Ghezzal pounced to scoop the ball into the net taking Siena into the break level.

Leonardo's half time team talk worked wonders, and a lovely move set up the 2nd goal, Borriello won the ball in the air, Pato brought it down, played the ball to Ronaldinho, his lovely pass inside to Flamini was then played across the box to Pato and the magical Brazilian made no mistake applying the finish the move deserved.

Flamini getting a starting spot, shows Leonardo's intentions, alot of people think Ancelotti under used the Frenchman, I for one agree with that and was really glad to see him in the starting lineup and also be involved in the move for the 2nd goal, and he had a really good game.

After the 2nd goal the game got a little scrappy, Siena brought on young striker Paolucci and he failed to make an impact, but from what I'm told he is one to watch out for.

Overall a good match, Siena will be hoping to survive another season after letting alot of their big players go, Milan will want to challenge for the Scudetto, but I think this will be a step to far for this new Milan side, this was big win for Milan though, with the Derby next week, without this win, they could have been possibly 6 points behind Inter after only 2 weeks, now they have the chance to get an early lead.

SIENA 1
Ghezzal 34
MILAN 2
Pato 29,48



Match Rating - 7/10

M.O.M - Ronaldinho - Milan