#TBT: KEISUKE AND EMILIA

16 goals in two games: the story of Keisuke Honda’s first away match of the 2013/14 season and first game on the road the following campaign for AC Milan. What’s more, both of these fixtures took place in Emilia. The former was the Japanese player’s Rossoneri debut. It came in January 2014 when AC Milan played Sassuolo away. The Diavolo took a 2-0 lead, Sassuolo stormed back to make it 4-2, with the Rossoneri then netting a third for a final scoreline of 4-3.

When Honda took to the pitch 20 minutes into the second half, AC Milan were trailing 4-2. 20 minutes later, Montolivo scored the Rossoneri’s third to give us hope. It was certainly an eventful start to Honda’s AC Milan career in Emilia-Romagna, with the new signing having arrived at Milanello after being purchased in the January transfer window.

Nine months later, Parma 4-5 AC Milan was played out at the Stadio Ennio Tardini in what was the Rossoneri’s first away fixture of the 2014/15 campaign. Honda had already scored his first goal of the new season in the Rossoneri’s first match, a 3-1 win for Pippo Inzaghi’s side over Stefano Pioli’s Lazio. In September 2014, Keisuke netted with the score at 1-1: previously, Bonaventura had given AC Milan the lead before Cassano bagged an equaliser.

And then Honda made it 2-1 as an absolute thriller unfolded. That evening, the Rossoneri went on to lead 3-1, 4-2 and 5-3 before the scoring came to an end at 5-4. The final goal ensured a frantic finish as De Sciglio put the ball into his own net following a misunderstanding with Diego Lopez, but the Diavolo were able to hold out.

The official PUMA match kits for the 2019/20 season are available in the AC Milan Online Store!