Serie A title race has been thrown open thanks to a surprise victory over AC Milan by lowly rated Spezia on Saturday, February 13. The newly-promoted club stunned the table leaders 2-0 to give room for Inter Milan to attempt a takeover.
AC Milan are the third Serie A heavyweights that Spezia have defeated since they joined the top-flight in the 2020-2021 season. The first Serie A giant that were stunned by the newly promoted club was AS Roma followed by Napoli.
In the case of AC Milan, the club was expected to have an easy ride over the newcomers based on their form so far this season. Milan got into the match with just two defeats in 22 league games; while Spezia got into the game after 10 defeats in 22 league games.
Such stats didn’t make any difference as the hosts of the Saturday encounter shown that they wanted the win more than AC Milan in the second half of the game.
Spezia took the lead in the 56th minute through the boots of Giulio Maggiore. The hosts made it worst for the table leaders when Spezia’s Simone Bastoni made it two for the host.
The win helped the newcomers to move to the 14th spot on the league table with 24 points in 22 games. While the defeat reduced AC Milan’s grip on the top spot. They are currently occupying the spot with 49 points in 22 games, 2 points away from second-placed Inter Milan.
As it stands, if Inter Milan who have recorded just two defeats in their last 21 league games win over Lazio later today, February 14 at 20:45, coach Antonio Conte and his boys will overtake AC Milan and become the table leaders with 50 points in 22 games.
Unfortunately for third-placed Juventus, they were not able to take advantage of AC Milan slip. Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates fell 1-0 in the hands of Napoli. The defeat left Juventus with 42 points in 21 games, 7 points away from first placed Milan with a game in hand.
Based on this, the Serie A title race is still open to the first three clubs on the league table but more open to the two city rivals – AC Milan and Inter Milan.
AC Milan captain Alessio Romagnoli who understood the damage the defeat in the hands of lowly rated Spezia could do in their Serie A title race admitted that Milan’s performance was not good enough.
“We got it completely wrong and it’s our fault,” the defender told DAZN after the game.
“From tomorrow, we have to prove this isn’t really us. I don’t think we took anything for granted, nor were we distracted by the upcoming fixtures. We just had an off day.
“Spezia did really well with their high press. We tip our hats to them, they deserved the victory. We lacked confidence and it shouldn’t have happened, but it did happen, now we have to prove this isn’t the real Milan.”
