Maldini strike AC to lifeline
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AC Milan captain Paolo Maldini stood tall when needed as he fired the winner in last night's morale-boosting 1-0 defeat of Messina.
The veteran defender's 13th minute strike helped the Rossoneri players forget their recent struggles, although they will wake up on Sunday morning still 14th in the table.
Since October 25, when they beat Chievo 2-0, Milan had lost three times and drawn once.
That poor return all but ended their bid for the Scudetto, with the club having had a points deduction before the season for match-fixing.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti also saw his team lose out 1-0 to AEK Athens in the Champions League on Tuesday although that did not prevent them from advancing to the next phase of the competition.
"These are three important points which will help us work without anxiousness from now on," said Ancelotti after the final whistle.
Although happy with the result, Ancelotti is well aware that his club have some way to go to get back to their former greatness.
"The side still needs to grow," he added. "We had a few problems in the first half, but I'm happy with how we ended the game.
"Kaka? He played well and deserved a goal the more the match went on."
The Brazilian did shine and also hit the woodwork, even if he isn't too disappointed with his failure to ripple the net. "It went well as winning was all that counted," he claimed.
"We took the lead early which made things easier, it's just a shame that the second goal didn?t arrive.
"Their goalkeeper [Marco Storari] was in good form tonight. He deserves credit as we kept trying to score and he just parried."
Messina boss Bruno Giordano accepted the defeat with dignity and a little bit of disappointment.
"It went as we expected in terms of the fact that they kept the ball for long periods. We did well though and with a little luck we could have netted a positive result," he said.
"We wanted to contain them but we conceded after 10 minutes.
"Christian Rigano? We can't attack all of the time as we must take into account the interests of the team.
"You can't expect to come to the San Siro and create 15 attempts on goal. You need a little bit of luck."
The veteran defender's 13th minute strike helped the Rossoneri players forget their recent struggles, although they will wake up on Sunday morning still 14th in the table.
Since October 25, when they beat Chievo 2-0, Milan had lost three times and drawn once.
That poor return all but ended their bid for the Scudetto, with the club having had a points deduction before the season for match-fixing.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti also saw his team lose out 1-0 to AEK Athens in the Champions League on Tuesday although that did not prevent them from advancing to the next phase of the competition.
"These are three important points which will help us work without anxiousness from now on," said Ancelotti after the final whistle.
Although happy with the result, Ancelotti is well aware that his club have some way to go to get back to their former greatness.
"The side still needs to grow," he added. "We had a few problems in the first half, but I'm happy with how we ended the game.
"Kaka? He played well and deserved a goal the more the match went on."
The Brazilian did shine and also hit the woodwork, even if he isn't too disappointed with his failure to ripple the net. "It went well as winning was all that counted," he claimed.
"We took the lead early which made things easier, it's just a shame that the second goal didn?t arrive.
"Their goalkeeper [Marco Storari] was in good form tonight. He deserves credit as we kept trying to score and he just parried."
Messina boss Bruno Giordano accepted the defeat with dignity and a little bit of disappointment.
"It went as we expected in terms of the fact that they kept the ball for long periods. We did well though and with a little luck we could have netted a positive result," he said.
"We wanted to contain them but we conceded after 10 minutes.
"Christian Rigano? We can't attack all of the time as we must take into account the interests of the team.
"You can't expect to come to the San Siro and create 15 attempts on goal. You need a little bit of luck."
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