"AC Milan is patiently passing the ball. Sampdoria's midfielders are starting to press forward!"Serie A commentator Aldo Serella quietly muttered as he watched Sampdoria's midfield pushing up to press.
"Should've done this earlier, huh?"
Sampdoria's midfield pressing forward inevitably left gaps at the back.
Suker finally stopped slacking and began actively moving to create space.
When he ran between two Sampdoria midfielders, Gattuso passed the ball straight to him.
Suker didn't try to trap the ball but instead turned his head toward Rui Costa. Just that small motion made Sampdoria's defensive midfielder start shifting left to intercept.
But Suker let the ball roll through his legs and turned with the motion.
No flashy dribbling or well-coordinated team play—just a simple turn.
Yet that turn alone completely tore through Sampdoria's midfield line!
Suker took a big touch forward and burst into a sprint.
"Ohhhh!!! Suker!! He's taken off!!"
Commentator Aldo Serella screamed belatedly.
Suker's sudden turn and burst caught even the commentators off guard.
As Suker surged forward, Sampdoria's five defenders began dropping back, crowding around Shevchenko.
Even though he was the Ukrainian "nuke" warhead, surrounded like that, Shevchenko had no room to operate.
Suker was nearing the penalty box.
No teammates had managed to keep up.
"Go for it!"
Gritting his teeth, Suker angled his body and unleashed a thunderous strike.
The shot came out of nowhere—the keeper was still shouting to his teammates to track back, and the defense was retreating.
But Suker pulled the trigger.
A long-range strike!
He had blasted so many of these in the Champions League—statistically, one of them had to go in, right?
That [Lampard Long Shot] skill couldn't be that useless!
The ball rocketed toward goal, dipped sharply at the last second, bounced off the ground, and deflected toward the net.
During this, there was even a slight change of direction—the Sampdoria goalkeeper had zero reaction.
Still in a half-crouch, expecting to gather the ball into his arms—
But the ball slipped in past his side and into the goal.
24th minute, AC Milan takes the lead!!
"Goal!!! What a stunning long-range strike!!!"
"Suker scores from outside the box—Sampdoria's keeper didn't even move!"
"Now I get why Suker kept trying long shots late in those Champions League matches."
"Look at that strike! That was pure class!"
The goal came so suddenly.
Sampdoria fans didn't even react in time.
Even Suker paused for a second in disbelief before leaping into the air and sprinting toward the corner flag.
He reached the corner and raised a finger to his lips—
Shhhh!!!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
The stadium erupted in jeers.
Suker spread his arms wide, face smug and full of glee.
Sampdoria fans were seething with rage.
"Let's watch the quality of that strike again!"
In the slow-mo replay, Aldo Serella marveled at how the ball suddenly dipped near the goal, bounced off the ground, and changed direction.
"This isn't on the keeper—that kind of shot is the hardest to judge!"
"Of course, Suker's shot was also simply excellent."
"Congratulations to AC Milan for scoring first!"
Shevchenko ran over to celebrate.
"I thought you were going to pass!" he laughed. "But that shot was sick!"
Suker replied, "I thought about passing, but there were too many people around you. Rui Costa couldn't keep up either."
Just then, Rui Costa walked over and said helplessly, "I'm not Kaka—I can't keep up with your pace!"
Rui had tried his hardest to sprint after Suker but just couldn't catch up.
"It's fine—after this goal, the game gets a lot easier!"
Suker grinned.
The team nodded.
Sampdoria, clearly rattled by the sudden goal, took a huge morale hit.
Their formation was defense-first, offense second.
They relied on a stable defense to hold the line and wait for counterattacks.
Now? That plan was in ruins!
Suker's goal made Sampdoria's whole strategy fall apart.
"We need to fight back!"Bonazzoli said sternly.
After the restart, Sampdoria stayed tightly packed.
But AC Milan went back to casually passing the ball around.
They weren't even trying to attack.
Earlier, Sampdoria didn't press up, so Milan didn't push forward.
Now that Milan had the lead? No need to press at all.
They could afford to wait.
Sampdoria's sluggish 5-4-1 couldn't possibly press Milan's midfield.
They wouldn't even know how they died.
So yes, it all went downhill with that one goal.
"Keep it steady!"
"Play it safe!"
"Don't push up!"
"Exactly, like that!"
Suker continued running left and right up front, constantly laying the ball off.
Over and over, he played it back—never once turning upfield.
On the other side, Rui Costa followed suit.
Suker's rhythm dictated the attack, so Rui Costa just followed his lead.
For the rest of the first half, Suk's endless passing slowly drained the clock.
"This is the easiest match I've played!"Pirlo chuckled.
He hadn't even broken a sweat—AC Milan just kept passing.
Suker grinned. "If we can win this easily, why bother attacking hard?"
"Sampdoria's formation is too clunky. They won't press, and since we're leading, there's no reason to attack. It's a deadlock."
"But in the second half, they'll definitely make adjustments. If they don't, they're finished."
Kaka looked at Suker, trying to imagine the situation from Sampdoria's perspective.
If he were them, he'd absolutely hate Suk right now.
"Suker, you'll play 10 more minutes—come off at 55. Kaka, start warming up."
Suker blinked. "I only scored one goal!"
"One is enough."
Coach Ancelotti shook his head.
He saw the way Sampdoria players were glaring at Suk—it was dangerous to leave him out there.
Suker's annoying playmaking had pushed them to the edge. Ancelotti didn't want any accidents.
Suker thought Sampdoria would make tactical changes in the second half.
But in truth—they didn't change a thing.
Worse, they started fouling Suker constantly.
So, at the 55-minute mark, Ancelotti subbed Suk off.
Suker came off grumbling, clearly unhappy.
Kaka came on.
"I'll avenge you," Kaka said, patting Suk on the shoulder.
Suk nodded. "Stay composed—don't overattack."
Though AC Milan was leading, Sampdoria still had dangerous counterattacking potential.
Suk reminded Kaka to keep control.
But Kaka's style was nothing like Suk's.
As soon as he came on, he started charging forward.
Suker watched nervously.
While Kaka's attacking momentum battered Sampdoria's defense...
It also began unlocking Sampdoria's own formation.
In the 71st minute, Seedorf misfired a pass—an attempted switch, which was intercepted by Sampdoria's midfield.
They launched a lightning counterattack.
Bonazzoli burst into the box, collided with Nesta, both fell.
Suker, on the bench, blinked.
No way...
Sure enough, the ref pointed to the spot.
Bonazzoli converted the penalty.
Huge blow for AC Milan!
Not only did they concede, but Nesta got booked.
Ancelotti immediately made a change.
Nesta off, Kaladze on.
Then, in the 81st minute, Kaka clashed with a Sampdoria forward—shoving and arguing.
Maldini rushed in to separate them.
Then—a sharp whistle.
The ref showed a yellow card...
To Gattuso, who wouldn't shut up from the sidelines.
Suk slapped his forehead.
The classic scenario had returned:
Kaka starts a fight, Maldini tries to break it up, Gattuso gets booked.
For God's sake—can someone shut Gattuso up?
Looking back at the pitch, Suk saw Maldini glaring daggers at Gattuso, face green with anger.
Two yellow cards in one half.
AC Milan's rhythm was falling apart.
Suker was losing his mind.
"I told them—don't push! Don't push! Nobody listens!"
Then he yelled again:
"Guys, please just hold it together!"
Suker couldn't return to the pitch.
All he could do was pray the "big brothers" didn't lose their heads.
But Sampdoria's substitute Palombo cut through two players and slipped a perfect through-ball to the charging Zanetto.
Zanetto wound up and smashed it.
87th minute, AC Milan conceded again.
Sampdoria 2:1 AC Milan.
And with that goal, AC Milan suffered their first defeat of the season.
The locker room was silent.
Maldini sat frowning, saying nothing.
Gattuso sat still, not daring to move.
Everyone else wore grim expressions.
Kaka kept glancing at Suker—who caught him red-handed.
Suker glared.
Kaka immediately looked down, sheepish.
Suker sighed.
"I told you to hold the rhythm. Told you not to push..."
"You just had to keep running, huh?"
Suker was furious.