Indonesian Descent Player's Goal Leads AC Milan to Defeat Monza

AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders celebrates his goal against Monza. (X/@acmilan)

JAKARTA - Indonesian-descent midfielder Tijjani Reijnders saved AC Milan. The only goal scored by Reijnders made Milan win 1-0 over Monza in the Italian Serie A match at the U-Power Stadium, Sunday, November 3, 2024 early morning WIB.

Reijnders is of Indonesian descent because his mother is from Maluku. He had received an offer to be naturalized. However, Reijnders refused and chose to defend the Netherlands. Moreover, coach Ronald Koeman had confirmed that he would be part of the Oranje team.

Unlike his younger brother, Eliano Reijnders, who chose to defend the Red and White. He has also made his debut with the Indonesian national team.

Reijnders ultimately became a pillar of the Dutch national team. Not only that, he also contributed to Milan. In the match against Monza, the 26-year-old player scored the only goal that won the Rossoneri.

This victory brought Milan back on track. Especially after they had to admit Napoli's 2-0 advantage in the midweek match. The additional three points made Milan improve their ranking in the standings. Now, Milan is in seventh position with 17 points.

Meanwhile, Monza is struggling at the bottom of the table and is threatened with relegation. The defeat from Milan means that Monza has not been able to get out of the relegation zone. They are in 18th position with eight points.

In that match, Reijnders and Theo Hernandez returned to play after being absent due to playing bans. Likewise, midfielder Christian Pulisic who had not played because he had the flu.

On the other hand, winger Rafael Leao who has a strained relationship with coach Paulo Fonseca returned to sit on the bench. With the formation of striker Alvaro Morata as center forward, Milan took the initiative to attack.

However, Monza surprised Milan after breaking into the away team's goal through Dany Mota. However, the goal was later disallowed by the referee because a Monza player was in an offside position before Mota's goal.

Next, Monza got another chance through Pedro Pereira in the 30th minute. Luckily, Pereira's header was brilliantly thwarted by one hand of goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

Monza had another chance to take the lead when Daniel Maldini got a chance. Even the son of Milan legend, Paolo Maldini, had time to maneuver by breaking through Milan's defense. Unfortunately, his shot still hit the goalpost. In addition, he was declared offside before releasing the shot on goal.

When under pressure, Milan actually managed to take the lead after Reijnders scored a goal towards the end of the first half. This started from Pulisic's cross which was met with a header from Morata which was directed at Reijnders.

The ball was met with a header that also penetrated Monza's goal. Moreover, goalkeeper Stefano Turati was already dead. The score was 1-0 for Milan and lasted until the first half ended.

Entering the second half, Monza took the initiative to attack. The team coached by Alessandro Nesta, who was once the mainstay of Milan's defense, was able to dominate. However, they had difficulty scoring goals so they could not equalize the score.

Milan, on the other hand, had the opportunity to increase their lead towards the end of the match. Leao, who replaced Noah Okafor, managed to penetrate Monza's defense. He was left facing Turati one-on-one. However, Turati was able to secure Leao's shot.

Next, Leao had another chance to score. However, his shot still went over the bar so Milan failed to increase their lead. The score of 10 for Milan lasted until the end of the match.