MD 20: MILANO CALCIO 0-3 FK BELGRADE
Belgrade wave goodbye to the relegation fight as they dominate Milano
✍️ Written by: Saad Maan, Forta Evening News
The hard to predict Belgrade travels to Italy to take on Milano, with a chance to say goodbye to the relegation fight. Milano, on the other hand, have to prove that their victory in MD 19 wasn't a fluke.
With a brand-new captain, Virginia Emmet, Milano have taken on the role of “football terrorists”. This was made extremely evident as Belgrade dominated the first half despite being away from home.
Belgrade would take advantage of their possession in the 21st minute, as Ricardo Mendez-Gomez received the ball outside the box, before turning and smashing it past Riku Nohomo.
The first half would conclude with Belgrade owning 84% of the possession, a league record across the opening 45 minutes of a match. Despite this, neither team made changes, with Milano feeling confident in their defenders maintaining their concentration.
After a slow start to the second half, Mendez-Gomez would bring it back to life. Unlike their goal in the first half, this one would come from a lethal counter-attack. Following an interception of a Milano long ball, Pablo Oliveira would find himself in acres of space, sending Mendez-Gomez through on goal with a chipped pass. With no one to challenge him, he slotted his second of the night past Nohomo, doubling Belgrade's lead.
Without any real way back into the match, the excitement around the tie would slowly fade away on the side of Milano. In the 90th minute, with nothing to play for, Milano conceded a series of corners. Eventually, following a scrappy sequence outside the box, Belgrade's defensive anchor hit the ball with all of his might, scoring his first goal of the season and Belgrade's third of the match.
This result sees Belgrade escape relegation for good. Despite only having a two point gap on 15th placed Warsaw, Belgrade is among the best in the league in their last three games, getting 7 out of 9 points. They'll most likely continue to climb, and it won't be long until they are mathematically safe. On the contrary, Milano failed to back up their MD 19 victory, and with the team on a downward trajectory, with just four points down to the relegation zone, who knows what could happen.
