FORZA MILAN
Milan: Abbiati; Abate (De Sciglio 87), Nesta, Thiago Silva, Antonini (Taiwo 78); Nocerino, Van Bommel, Seedorf (Aquilani 70); Emanuelson; Cassano, Ibrahimovic
Viktoria Plzen: Cech; Rajtoral, Cisovsky, Bystron, Limbersky; Pilar (Fillo 75), Jiracek, Horvath, Kolar (Darida 91), Petrzela; Bakos (Duris 67)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic eased the frustration around the San Siro with a 53rd-minute penalty which finally set Milan on their way to a 2-0 Champions League win over Viktoria Plzen.
Massimiliano Allegri's men have failed to light up Serie A so far this season with five points from their opening four games and looked set for another difficult night against their Czech opponents.
But Ibrahimovic grabbed his chance to ease the tension and when Antonio Cassano converted his side's second goal in the 66th minute Allegri was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
It was only Milan's second win in four matches since a creditable 2-2 draw in their opening Group H fixture against Barcelona at the Nou Camp earlier this month.
It might have been much easier for the home side had Ignazio Abate's dangerous cross with just 28 seconds on the clock not been brilliantly saved by Plzen goalkeeper Marek Cech with danger lurking.
But the visitors quickly went on to serve notice of their intentions as Milan Petrzela met a Vaclav Pilar cross with a firm header in the centre of the penalty area which produced a fine save from Christian Abbiati.
Plzen came into the game with confidence after a solid start to their new Czech Liga season, a run of five games unbeaten keeping them well in touch with the league leaders.
In a lively start Cech saved twice from the dangerous Cassano then Mark Van Bommel came close to breaking the deadlock in the 13th minute when he headed an Abate cross over the bar.
Cech saved again from Cassano but Plzen continued to look lively and both Marek Bakos and Petr Jiracek fired wide from long range.
Pavel Horvath had the first chance of the second half for Plzen but Milan got their chance shortly afterwards when Marian Cisnovski's handball in the box allowed Ibrahimovic to step up and slam home the penalty.
Cassano shot over the bar but Milan's lead looked anything but safe with Abbiati forced into action again to deny Horvath, then Clarence Seedorf booting clear a free-kick from the same player.
The points were finally all but guaranteed for the home side in the 66th minute when Cassano met Ibrahimovic's cross from the left with a right-foot shot into the bottom corner.
The game lost much of its momentum after the home side's second goal but the visitors continued to do their best to press forward and a shot by Michal Duris was blocked in the box by Van Bommel.
Two minutes later Daniel Kolar tried his luck from 30 yards but his speculative effort was easily saved by Abbiati as Milan cruised to a victory which they must hope will settle their nerves ahead of their next Group H tie against BATE Borisov.
AC Milan memetik kemenangan 2-0 saat menjamu Viktoria Plzen di matchday kedua Liga Champions. Di San Siro, Kamis (29/9/2011) dinihari WIB gol kemenangan Rossoneri dibuat Zlatan Ibrahimovic dan Antonio Cassano.
Di depan pendukungnya sendiri, Milan sempat dibuat kesulitan oleh Plzen di babak pertama. Penampilan hebat dari kiper Marek Cech bahkan membuat Rossoneri frustrasi karena banyak peluang yang dikreasikan terhadang sang penjaga gawang.
Milan baru membuka keunggulan di menit 53, itupun melalui eksekusi pemnalti Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Sementara gol kedua dibuat Cassano di menit 66.
Kemenangan ini melanjutkan start bagus Rossoneri, yang pada laga pertama dua pekan lalu mengimbangi Barcelona dengan 2-2 di Camp Nou. Dengan The Catalans memetik kemenangan besar atas BATE, Diavolo Rosso harus puas duduk di posisi dua klasemen Grup H dengan nilai empat.
Jalannya Pertandingan
Milan nyaris kebobolan di menit-menit awal. Rossoneri beruntung Cristian Abbiati tampil luar biasa di bawah mistar gawang, dia menepis dengan jarinya bola hasil diving header yang dilakukan Marek Bakos.
Di menit kelima Milan balas mengancam saat umpan Ibra disambar Cassano dengan sepakan keras. Malang buat Milan, bola masih membentur kaki kiper Marek Cech dan gol batal tercipta.
Cech kemudian beberapa kali membuat pemain Milan frustrasi dengan penyelamatan yang dia lakukan. Salah satunya terjadi di menit 33 saat dia dengan sangat baik menghalau sepakan Ibra yang meneruskan umpan Ignasio Abate di tiang jauh.
Lima menit kemudian Ibra kembali dibuat kecewa saat sepakannya berhasil diredam Cech. Sementara semenit sebelum turun minum umpan Clarence Seedorf yang melintas di muka gawang gagal dijangkau satupun pemain Milan. Babak pertama berakhir tanpa gol.
Di awal babak kedua, tepatnya menit 53 Milan akhirnya mmecah kebuntuan. Gol pertama tuan rumah bermula dari bola sepakan Ibra yang menyentuh tangan pemain Plzen, dan wasit menunjuk titik putih.
Maju sebagai eksekutor, Ibra menuntaskan tugasnya dengan sempurna. Milan pun memimpin 1-0.
Sebuah kerjasama segitiga antara Seedorf, Ibra dan Cassano nyaris menambah keunggulan Milan. Namun sepakan terakhir yang dilepaskan Cassano melayang tinggi di atas sasaran.
2-0 untuk Milan! Di menit 66 Ibra dengan sempurna mengontrol bola hasil umpan panjang. Dia membuat gerakan memutar dan melepaskan umpan pada Cassano yang melepaskan tembakan dan bersarang di gawang Plzen.
Delapan menit sebelum bubaran, Plzen punya kans memperkecil ketinggalan. Namun kegagalan Michal Duris menyambar bola hasil tendangan sudut di tiang dekat membuat keunggulan dua gol Milan tak berubah.
Skor 2-0 pun bertahan hingga wasit meniup peluit panjang tanda pertandingan selesai.
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