AC MILAN V LAZIO: A PREVIOUS MEETING

A thrilling previous encounter which was decided late on by a great striker. Let's take a trip down memory lane with a look at the 2005/05 season. A star-studded AC Milan hosted a Lazio side languishing lower down in the table than we'd usually find them. The match looked simple on paper but turned out to be rather more difficult. 

SETTING THE SCENE
6 February 2005, Serie A matchday 23: AC Milan hosted Lazio at San Siro and Carlo Ancelotti's reigning champions were second in the league, just behind Juventus. Five points separated the two sides on the eve of the game: 50 for the Bianconeri, 45 for us. Juventus, however, slipped up away at Palermo and were beaten thanks to a Brienza goal. It was, therefore, all in AC Milan's hands to get to within two points of the leaders. Papadopulo's Lazio, meanwhile, were sitting in 15th position with 24 points but were still a side with quality all over the pitch. Certainly not to be underestimated...

STUBBORN LAZIO TAKE THE LEAD AFTER THE BREAK
Ancelotti went with his classic 4-3-1-2 with just one change to the familiar line-up: Tomasson started ahead of Sheva. The 73rd meeting between the two sides in the league proved to be tough: the Biancocelesti were closing down the spaces and weren’t giving much away, even if Seedorf and Tomasson missed two first-half chances. Then, the second half began in poor fashion: in the 55th minute, Liverani found Rocco in the area and Stam brought him down, conceding a penalty. Massimo Oddo stepped up to take it and made no mistake, even though Dida got a touch on it. 1-0 down at San Siro, things had become much harder.

THE COMEBACK
Ancelotti reacted by making all three of his available substitutions, bringing on Shevchenko, Serginho and Cafu and switching to a 3-4-1-2 in the process. The Coach’s changes had the desired effect, with Shevchenko equalising with a magnificent free-kick on the 72-minute mark. San Siro was bouncing again, and there were 18 minutes left plus added time to win it. Both Cafu and Stam had opportunities to give the Diavolo the lead, but a winner didn’t come until added time. Kaká beat Dabo to a loose ball and let fly with a right-footed strike that hit the inside of the post. However, Hernan Crespo was there to turn it home. Perhaps caught by surprise, it wasn’t the best of finishes from the Argentine, but the ball had entered the net via the upright. The comeback was complete in the 94th minute, much to the delight of the 56,000 Rossoneri fans in the ground. 

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