January 30, 2018

Experts Say – Aspire Academy vs AC Milan

Mark Tompkins – Al Kass Analyst

Aspire Academy players seemed like they were in good spirits today. There was a chance for AC Milan in the early stages, which was not taken well, and Abunada made a great save. It had been a positive start from AC Milan; they were showing a lot of quality in the beginning of the first half. Aspire Academy was temporarily down to 10 men when Mohamed was getting some treatment, but he could not make it back into the game. There was nothing much to choose between these two teams, coming up to a quarter into the second half. AC Milan got a penalty kick, and Abunada went the wrong way. Tonin kept his composure, and it was 1-nil for AC Milan at half time.

Nick Summerbee – Al Kass Analyst

Both teams looked a bit flat today; hopefully the managers had talked to them before the start of the second half, and we hoped they could show more spirit on the pitch. That strike, right into the box, from Alganehi, was exactly what we needed to lift this game up a bit. Aspire Academy had come out more alive in the second half. There was not much happening in midfield, and we were seeing some sloppy game from AC Milan, 70 minutes into the game. I was not seeing any players coming off sweating; they had to be quick, fast and take their chances. This game was not one of those classic games that we had seen this tournament.