6th in Serie A, AC Milan take a narrow lead into their Coppa Italia semi-final second leg against the team 39 places beneath them in Lega Pro, U.S. Alessandria.
The one goal that seperated the teams at the end of the 90 minutes came from a Mario Balotelli penalty, which was to be his first goal in four months. The cult hero last scored against Udinese in Serie A on September 22nd, before picking up a groin injury that kept him out of the side.
Milan edge victory against tier three side Alessandria
The first leg held at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino was a historic fixture, not only for the hosts, but for the Coppa Italia as a whole, as not since 1984 has a third tier side reached this stage in the competition. It is also the first time since 1936 that the Greys have featured in the last four, a feat that was made possible by a hard-fought performance to beat Spezia 2-1 in the last round.
Alessandria went into the game knowing they had already eliminated two Serie A sides in Palermo and Genoa on the way to the penultimate round of action in the Italian domestic competition. This game was, however, 95 kilometers from their 5,000 capacity ground, and it was against a Milan team in their 27th appearance in the last four.
Milan started the game well, with Balotelli only missing the target by a matter of inches after running onto an excellent ball by Keisuke Honda; chances also fell to the likes of Poli and De Sciglio, only to be denied by the impressive Vannucchi.
Hosts keep out Rossoneri in Turin
Despite the strong start and efficient counter attacks from the hosts, they came to nothing, with the former Juventus youngster Fischnaller creating several opportunities, only to be fired wide.
The steady of chances composed by the visitors eventually saw a breakthrough, with a penalty coming in the 42nd minute of the game. A fantastic run by Antonelli in which he penetrated the left side of the Alessandria box resulted in a leg being left out by Morero. The penalty seemed certain, and was confirmed after a couple of seconds wait by the referee, who later booked the offender.
Balotelli marked his return to the Rossoneri with a calmly taken penalty into the bottom corner, sending Vannucchi the opposite direction.
Returning Balotelli gives visitors a first leg lead
Alessandria went into the half time break a goal down, after resolute defending kept a rather lacklustre Milan out until the last few minutes of the half.
The third tier side came out with much improvement on their lack of attacking chances, with Fischnaller seeing an abundance of opportunities to put his side level miss narrowly. a succession of well struck volleys came before a claim for handball in the Milan box, only to be dismissed.
Ricardo Bocalon squandered two good chances to give Alessandria an unlikely equaliser after coming on in the second half; frustration rose as each opportunity went begging.
I Grigi couldn't break Milan's defence
M'Baye Niang saw a lot of the action after coming on to replace match winner Mario Balotelli. A quick break from the visitors concluded in an angled shot hitting the post from the Frenchman. Unfortunately for Andrea Poli, a spectacular 25-yard effort was ruled out after being wrongly deemed to have hit Niang, which would have doubled Milan's lead.
Alessandria will have to wait five weeks for the reverse fixture at San Siro on March 1 to see if they can make it into the final. The other semi-final between Juventus and Inter Milan will be hosted tomorrow night in Turin.