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AC Milan humiliated again Italian league giants AC Milan suffered another embarrassing loss when Chinese league champions Shanghai Shenhua dumped them 2-0 in an exhibition match.
Although the reigning Serie A champions were missing several of their Italian internationals, coach Carlo Ancelotti's men put in another sub-par performance in the wake of their 1-0 defeat at the hands of Hong Kong football minnows Kitchee Sunday.
Jorg Albertz got things going for Shenhua in the 52nd minute when he fired a pass up the middle to a waiting Qu Shengqing, who turned, stepped and fired to find the back of the net from 16 metres out.
Less than two minutes later, shellshocked Milan were again caught flatfooted when hard-running Peter Vera drove the ball up the middle and passed to Sun Ji, who struck a beautiful right footer from the edge of the box over diving goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.
The black and red shirts looked set to dominate the match over a seemingly intimidated and outclassed Shenhua, but Milan squandered several first half chances with flubbed kicks and shots that sailed wide.
In the second half the reinvigorated Chinese side tightened its defence, squelching Milan's efforts to find the goal.
In the closing moments of the match, striker Aimo Diana was unable to head home what would have been a face-saving score, much to the delight of an estimated 5,000 cheering spectators.
While many of Milan's players stayed in Europe for the build-up to this month's European Championships in Portugal, legendary defenders Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta were booted up for the expected win.
Ancelotti, according to local press reports, had promised that the 17-time Serie A kings would come away on top in Shanghai.
Star striker Andrei Shevchenko sat out the match after suffering an apparent muscle injury in Hong Kong. |
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