3 hours ago
29
Santiago Gimenez broke his duck for the season on Tuesday night in the cup, and Massimiliano Allegri hopes it is the start of a better run.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) recall, the 20th minute of the first half of the Coppa Italia round of 32 game against Lecce, Gimenez finished off a delightful cross from Davide Bartesaghi to give Milan the lead against 10-man Lece.
It’s said that one strike is enough to unblock a stumbling centre-forward and Santi released all his tension in the celebration. The hope is that he can now run more lightly freed from the burden of a goal drought that had lasted 137 days.
Gimenez can now pounce on a starting spot against Napoli on Sunday. If the goal goal against Lecce eased the pressure, a goal at San Siro against Antonio Conte’s champion side could definitively relaunch him.
He’s never scored against a big club: his five goals in Serie A came against Empoli, Verona, Venezia, and Bologna, the famous brace in May that (for now) was his last league goal.
A new look
Before getting back on track, Gimenez also faced a potential setback as he was close to being sold several times this summer, only to find himself in the space left open by Rafael Leao’s injury. Without Rafa and with Nkunku still to be included, Gimenez was used as Pulisic’s deputy.
He was a starter in each of the first four league games, without scoring, but his fitness improved, and his aim seemed to gradually improve, finally finding the net in his second cup outing, after 19 shots on goal across all competitions.
It’s true that Santi hadn’t had a goal to that point, but his work has also allowed Pulisic to score five goals in the first six games of the season. Gimenez works for the team, seeking out the lay-off play or challenging oppositing defenders by calling for a ball in behind, creating space for others.
Now that the joy of scoring has arrived, Allegri might decide to keep him in the challenge against Conte. Max praised him even after the first few games without any glory in front of goal, while his team-mates celebrated for him two nights ago.
Leao posted an Instagram story, Pulisic spoke in the post-match interviews and the others in the dressing room. Some have joked about his hair: having removed the artificial blond, Santi has rediscovered his true self.
Fight for a spot
Goals are something that comes naturally to him: 65 in 105 games with Feyenoord, eight in 11 Champions League matches, five in another 11 Europa League outings. Now the time may have come to step up his game with Milan too, and he is expected to start alongside Pulisic on Sunday.
The others are chasing him. He’s the favourite to play over Christopher Nkunku, who also scored against Lecce. In his first start, he caused Siebert’s red card, hitting the post and then acrobatically scoring the second goal.
He’ll get some playing time at the weekend, while Leao is also expected to join the squad today having been out his injury on August 17th. After over a month’s absence, he won’t be able to start against last season’s Scudetto winners.
Max, however, will be able to use him if needed in the second half, when the Napoli defence is more tired. Hopefully because Santiago Gimenez has run them ragged.
English (US) ·