Serie A - Beckham scores as Milan win

Eurosport - Mon, 26 Jan 02:58:00 2009

David Beckham scored his first goal for Milan as they trounced 10-man Bologna 4-1 in Serie A.

David Beckham celebrates scoring for AC Milan against Bologna in Serie A, January 2009 - 0

The England midfielder, on-loan from LA Galaxy, fired a powerful shot into the top-right corner to cap a flowing counter attack.

Milan were already 3-1 at that point after two goals from Kaka and a close-range finish from Clarence Seedorf overturned Marco Di Vaio's early penalty.

Bologna were a man light for the best part of the match after Gaby Mudingayi was sent off on 40 minutes when he received two yellow cards for crude challenges on Alexandre Pato.

Until the dismissal it was a frantic, end-to-end match with Bologna equal to their more illustrious guests but denied by a string of fine saves from in-form goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.

Abbiati, 31, was the bright hope of Italian goalkeeping until the emergence of Gianluigi Buffon, and his club career stalled when the club signed Dida.

But after returning from loan spells at Torino and Atletico Madrid, Abbiati is surely pushing for a recall to the national team and another good performance saw him deny Di Vaio what would have been a deserved hat-trick.

Despite Abbiati's performance, the praise will be heaped on Beckham - who has improved with each of his three games for the Rossoneri and was given the man-of-the-match award for his hard running and clever use of the ball - and Kaka, whose goals and guile delighted the visiting crowd. The Brazilian even drew applause from Bologna's fans in the light of his decision to shun the cash of Manchester City to stay in Italy.

An exhilarating start saw the hosts take the lead when, on nine minutes, Philippe Senderos was adjudged to have nudged Christian Amoroso after the former Fiorentina man went on a mazy dribble.

Di Vaio emphatically placed the spot-kick into the top right corner, but Milan were level four minutes later when Bologna keeper Francesco Antonioli parried Kaka's shot into the path of Seedorf, who rifled the ball in from an angle on the left.

The visiting side went ahead on 16 minutes when Gianluca Zambrotta burst into the Bologna box and went down in a tangle of legs with defender Davide Bomardini.

Kaka despatched the spot-kick and Milan were in control.

Pato had a much better call for a penalty turned down 60 seconds later when he was clearly tripped by Claudio Terzi, but referee Paolo Tagliavento waved play on.

The pace of the game slowed for a period and the dismissal of Mudingayi ended any hopes of a Bologna comeback.

Two minutes after the Belgium midfielder saw red, Kaka extended his side's lead with a superb individual strike from the edge of the box to the helpless Antonioli's right.

The Brazil star should have sealed his hat-trick when, seven minutes into the second half, he scuffed a finish from close range after a quick break set Seedorf free on the left.

Beckham's goal on the hour mark came from another Seedorf-led counter attack and was sandwiched by two top saves from Abbiati to deny Di Vaio.

Ronaldinho - who must be wondering when his next start is going to come - was sent on for a brief cameo and he almost scored with an audacious lob, while Beckham made Bologna work hard with some good crosses and two shots that narrowly missed the target.

The win puts Milan only three points behind first-placed Juventus and second-placed Internazionale, although Jose Mourinho's side can go top again if they beat Sampdoria later on Sunday.

Reda Maher / Eurosport

Comment 15 - 34 of 74

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  1. SORRY GIANLUCA - I MEANT POST 27

    From Terry D, on Sun 25 Jan 7:18PM

  2. HES only good at curling and free kicks otherwise hes ok. And i thought he was in real madrid. JEEZ

    From Hamza, on Sun 25 Jan 7:11PM

  3. POST 29 - YOU HAVE THE MOST "IDIOTIC" NAME I HAVE HEARD IN AGES!!!! JUST GOES TO PROVE WHAT I HAVE THOUGHT FOR YEARS - IT SEEMS TO BE ONLY WOMEN AND GAY MEN THAT THINK BECKHAM IS SUCH A HERO..AND WITH A NAME LIKE THAT I DON'T THINK YOU'RE A WOMAN!!!!!

    From Terry D, on Sun 25 Jan 7:00PM

  4. Well done David! keep those goals coming..and meanwhile think about joining Milan.

    From jzhong91, on Sun 25 Jan 7:00PM

  5. Beckham will make de England team. Kudos to David

    From Peter, on Sun 25 Jan 6:57PM

  6. To postmodern2005: I think that Victoria want to stay in Milano, cause it's the city of mode... of Armani, of Dolce and Gabbana, of Versace... she can go to do a class shopping when she want!

    I'm a Milan Ac fan... and I'm soo happy for Becks and for my team... maybe I understand the mean of "two bob" team, and I want to say that Bologna is a good team, I can compare it with Portsmouth... and maybe you don't know that at the first round Bologna defeated Milan at San Siro, so is not a bad team...

    C'mon Becks... we are very proud of you... also here in Italy! (sorry for my bad english, try to understand!)

    From Gianluca L, on Sun 25 Jan 6:39PM

  7. Waste of a page .

    From Glenn T, on Sun 25 Jan 6:28PM

  8. Well done David! Good goal too! I can't believe some of the spiteful comments on this page. What is David Beckham supposed to do? Not score because it is a "two bob" team Milan are playing? The most idiotic line of argumentation I have heard in ages. One could also question whether "two bob" teams are to be found in Serie A football as well. Well done David, once again, keep up the good work.

    From Tarquinius S, on Sun 25 Jan 6:27PM

  9. Beckham is back by scoring to Miland and he will be ready to England squads.He is killing hemself and his career by playing in LA galaxy.

    From ridda_ismail, on Sun 25 Jan 6:25PM

  10. SGCRF250 - JEALOUS - DON'T THINK SO MY FRIEND.OF HIS MONEY MAYBE!!!!AS FOR GETTING US TO THE WORLD CUP SINGLE HANDEDLY,WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER SQUAD MEMBERS,DON'T THEY COUNT??????HE SCORED A FREE KICK AGAINST A TEAM THAT WERE NOT FIT TO LACE OUR BOOTS...DO YOU REMEMBER FRANCE 98 AGAINST THE ARGIES YOU MUG????????????

    From Terry D, on Sun 25 Jan 6:15PM

  11. is that no pace,no left foot,no heading ability, overrated has been still playing?

    From andy, on Sun 25 Jan 6:01PM

  12. THANKS DAVIDMAN - AND NO SPELLING MISTAKES EITHER........

    From Terry D, on Sun 25 Jan 6:00PM

  13. Terry D you're a c*ck - the guy is English and once single handedly got England to a World Cup - he's got more talent in his little finger no doubt than you will possess in your entire lfe - jealousy is a terrible thing my friend....

    From sgcrf250, on Sun 25 Jan 5:59PM

  14. Ok Terry D, you are right for the simple fact that you used block capitals.

    From davidman, on Sun 25 Jan 5:53PM

  15. OH DEAR,EVERYONE'S PROUD OF BECKHAM SCORING AGAINST A TWO BOB TEAM WITH TEN MEN.SURELY THE MONEY HE EARNS HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIND THE NET FROM 8 YARDS OUT!!!!!WHEN,AT HIS AGE,HE FINALLY LEARNS HOW TO TACKLE,HOW TO TAKE DEFENDERS ON,HOW TO USE HIS LEFT FOOT AND HOW TO HEAD A BALL INSTEAD OF PLAYING LONG BALL TO AVOID THESE SITUATIONS - THEN MAYBE,JUST MAYBE,HE MIGHT BE CONSIDERED A "MODEL PRO" "LEGEND" ETC.INSTEAD OF A MONEY GRABBING ATTENTION SEEKING BIG HEAD!!!!!!!!

    From Terry D, on Sun 25 Jan 5:50PM

  16. Tell you what that Kaka looks a decent player, wonder if my club Man City will go in for him (lol) we have to laugh or we'll cry.

    Beckham is becoming like the song "wherever i lay my hat that's my home" or maybe posh just likes moving house whether David likes it or not.

    From JOHN, on Sun 25 Jan 5:47PM

  17. I have never understood all the bitterness towards Beckham, especially from the English fans. The bloke is one of the best footballers our country has ever produced, puts his heart and soul into the game, is one of the very few English players who genuinely has a passion for his country. He is a model pro, and a very genuine man. The fact that he has walked into Milan's starting line up says something doesn't it? What moree does the bloke have to prove?

    From davidman, on Sun 25 Jan 5:34PM

  18. Becks, Proud of you son, united should never have sold you.

    From Steven H, on Sun 25 Jan 5:32PM

  19. D.BECKS.........LEGEND.........LEGEND.......AND DID I MENTION HE IS A LEGEND.......LOL

    From Oluwatobiloba A, on Sun 25 Jan 5:21PM

  20. Beck should go to arsenal

    From Tom, on Sun 25 Jan 4:59PM
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