#TBT: GOALS AGAINST EMPOLI

A series of stepovers and the ball smashed in under the crossbar with his left foot. It was 7 April 2007 and nobody could stop that Ronaldo “El Fenomeno” goal, he was overwhelming and uncontainable, in a way that no other was. It was a Saturday evening at San Siro, with AC Milan hosting Empoli, and the newspaper headlines that morning had read: “Ronaldo, are you there?” Apparently his brace in Siena and the opening goal in the Derby against Inter simply weren’t enough.

The media wanted more, and they didn’t hesitate to ask Ronaldo for exactly that. And boy did he deliver: the goal to give AC Milan a 1-0 lead over Empoli as the Rossoneri went on to win 3-1 at San Siro. In fact, goals against Empoli have often provided a turning point for Rossoneri forwards throughout our history. We just have to look back to April 1988, and think of Claudio Baglioni’s “La vita è adesso” playing over the top as Marco van Basten scored that marvellous goal against the Tuscan side coached by Salvemini. 

That tradition continued with Oliver Bierhoff, as our German striker scored his first and only hat-trick in a Rossoneri shirt back in May ’99 against Empoli at San Siro. That inspired striking performance came on the penultimate day of the season that ended in triumph in Perugia. Four years later, in December 2003, it was Kaká’s turn to step up, this time in Empoli, securing the three points for Milan in a game that seemed destined to finish 0-0. A magnificent strike from Ricky, and the first one of that star-studded team to celebrate with our Brazilian was Billy Costacurta.

More of our forwards had what it takes to score a great goal against Empoli, and although their experiences weren’t as outstanding, their goals at the Stadio Castellani were still important and much appreciated. Just like Christian Vieri’s in October 2005 and Fernando Torres’ in September 2014, the first step towards a 2-2 comeback after being 2-0 down against Sarri’s side. Not to mention February 2019, as AC Milan triumphed 3-0 over Empoli at home, Kris Piątek scoring for the fifth game in a row in an AC Milan shirt that night.

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