Most Milan fans are angry at Maurizio Mariani’s decision to disallow Ismael Bennacer’s goal against Inter, but also highlight that the Rossoneri need at least one new striker next season.
Stefano Pioli’s boys have been eliminated from the Coppa Italia semis after a 3-0 loss against Inter yesterday. They have one last chance to win a trophy this season as they remain the table leaders in Serie A with a two-point lead on their city rivals who, however, still have a game in hand.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport reports, most Milan fans regret Mariani’s decision to disallow Bennacer’s goal in the second half for an offside of Pierre Kalulu. The Milan defender was beyond every Inter player, but it’s unclear whether or not he penalised Samir Handanovic preventing him from saving Bennacer’s shot.
Pioli was furious after the final whistle and so were Milan fans who said referees’ mistakes against their team this season remind them of Calciopoli, the scandal of Italian football that saw Juventus relegated to Serie B in 2006.
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However, Milan were still 2-0 down when Bennacer scored, so they’d need one more goal to qualify for the final. Milan’s struggles in front of goal have been a matter of concern over the last few weeks. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s physical issues haven’t been helpful and Olivier Giroud scored his last goal more than a month ago against Napoli.
Milan fans have criticised many players, such as Alexis Saelemaekers of Junior Messias and hope the Rossoneri will buy more attacking players in the summer. Divock Origi is close to reaching an agreement with Milan, but the Serie A giants could have a €300m transfer budget if Bahrain-based fund Investcorp completes the club’s takeover from Elliott for €1.1m billion.