AC Milan 1 AS Livorno 1

In a first half that saw chances on both sides, Milan began to establish the upper hand in the later stages. Beckham had chances from open play and from set plays, Ronaldinho hit the post, but it was Ambrossini who put the ball in the back of the net in the final minute of the first half. A fine cross from Beckham had the goal keeper fumbling, and Seedorf may have been instrumental in blocking the keeper whilst Ambrossini fired home - the first half finishes 1-0 to Milan.
In the second half, Milan started well, Huntelaar almost doubling their lead. However it was Livorno who scored in the 52nd minute catching the Milan defence standing still. The game continued at high tempo with Milan probably having the better possession and chances, but unable to find the back of the net. Inzaghi came on for Flamini in the final stages signaling Milan's intent to score a winning goal, having suffered losses in the last two home games.
Beckham earned himself another yellow card in the last few minutes for a 'professional' foul, the game went into four minutes of extra time which ended up as more than six minutes, but despite all the pressure that Milan put onto the Livorno goal, there were no further goals to be found, the game finished 1-1, and Livorno will be considerably happier with the result than Milan.

Milan 0 Udinese 1

In the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, Milan are beaten by Udinese. The team picked is quite different from the normal Serie A side and did not feature David Beckham, and some of the other big names. Abbiati had a fine first half in the Milan goal, keeping Udinese from scoring, but they finally broke through on 56 minutes. This takes Udinese to the semi-finals where they will play Roma.

In other news this week, Beckham has told reporters how much he is enjoying playing in Serie A again, and has talked about his intention of eventually buying an MLS franchise. This is the first time since beginning his stint in the MLS, that I have heard him refer to this option. It certainly seems to point to the fact that despite being in Milan, the MLS still figures highly in Beckham's future plans..

Inter Milan 2 AC Milan 0

Beckham starts again in this all-important Milan derby. Inter get off to a devastating start by unlocking the Milan defence and scoring the opening goal after 9 and a half minutes. The start was fast and furious, Beckham drawing the yellow card our of the ref's pocket just three minutes into the game after a clumsy midfield episode.This was not last card to be shown by a long way and the ref looked close to losing control of the game when he rightly booked an Inter player for diving - the replay showed that the ref was fully justified, but the Inter player Sneijder decided to come up to the ref and ironically applaud him to his face, which is foolish enough... but you can imagine the look on Mourinho's face when the ref adjudged Sneijder to be guilty of foul and abusive language and promptly sent him off after just 26 minutes of the game had elapsed. Inter are now down to ten men in the most bizarre circumstances. On 40 minutes, the ref saw fit to send one of the Inter coaching staff to the stands too (ironically after an Inter defender won a free kick with another perfectly executed dive - the replay demonstrating no contact from the Milan striker).
The testy first half ends with AC Milan pushing their numerical advantage onto their Inter Milan rivals, but failing yet to threaten the Inter goal with any on-target shots and still trailing by an early goal.
The second half starts, and even with one goal in the bag, Inter face an uphill struggle without Sneijder who, for the first 20 minutes had looked very dangerous. Maybe this was in their mind when Inter petulantly delayed their arrival for the second half. AC Milan start strongly with a Beckham free-kick quickly followed by two corners, the second of which brought a fabulous reaction save from the Inter goalie, quickly followed by a well-struck but narrowly wide effort from the still very lively Ronaldinho. Milan had plenty of the play and chances to equalise, one of the better ones when Beckham crossed, only to have the ball headed over the crossbar on the hour mark. Inter had a couple of break-away chances, once hitting the goal post after 62 minutes, theatrical challenges punctuate the game as the Inter players sense a ref who may be looking to even things up. Against the run of play, Inter win a free kick on the edge of the box on 63 minutes and promptly score again, turning the knife in the sickened stomachs of the Milan players, leaving them half an hour to rescue the game. Leonardo waited until the last 10 minutes until Huntelaar came on, although many may have expected Inzaghi... However despite lengthy build-up play and long periods of prolonged posession, Milan were thwarted in their efforts to score. Even Ronaldinho had a wild shot over the bar with 6 minutes left on the clock. Milan were just too ponderous on the ball showing little inventiveness and urgency as the time whittled away to nothing, playing more like a team that was two goals up rather than two goals down against ten men.
There was more excitement on 91 minutes and Inter were down to NINE men when the ball was prevented from going in the net by a hand-ball. Ronaldinho stepped up, but failed to convert the goal with just 4 minutes of extra time left. This was the last significant action of a match which ended with huge disappointment for Beckham and the AC Milan team, only matched by the incredible feeling of triumph experienced by Mourinho's men.

Milan 4 Siena 0

Milan won their mid-week cup match 2-1 against Novara without Beckham and look forward the Coppo Italia quarter finals against Livorno on 31st January.
Milan made a quick start in today's game when Burriello found himself facing the keeper after a bad defensive error. He went round the keeper and was brought down, leaving the keeper red-carded and Ronaldinho with the chance to put Milan in the lead. This time there was no mistake, and Milan went 1-0 on the 10 minute mark.
Milan pushed home their one-man advantage and started to dominate the game. However, Maccarone managed to bundle his way through the Milan defence, but squandered the chance by shooting over the cross-bar on 25 minutes. Siena were punished for not taking their chance just two minutes later when Borriello got onto the end of a long cross over his shoulder and volleyed left-footed over the keeper and into the net from close range.
Milan continued to dominate the game and the possession only allowing Siena the occasional foray into their territory. The first half finished 2-0 to Milan who were looking very comfortable at home.

Milan continue to dominate the second half which threatens to stagnate, but Ronaldinho is animated and dancing towards the Siena goal at every opportunity. On 56 minutes, he is one-on-one with the keeper and is only prevented from scoring by the slightest touch from the replacement goal-keepers gloves. Ronaldinho pounces on chance after chance, looking more of a player than he ever looked last year. He finally gets his second goal when Beckham plants the ball on his head from a corner on 71 minutes, and the keeper is left floundering as the ball hits the net, 3-0 Milan and the game is up for Siena.
Siena don't completely give up and just a few minutes later have their best break yet down the left culminating in a very well-saved point-blank header. Siena were also denied a penalty when Maccarone went down in the area on 86 mins, but the replay showed little, if any contact and a dive that would certainly have earned a booking in a Premiership game...
In the final minute, a moment of glory and brilliance from Ronaldinho once again as he held the ball on the edge of the area, then shot across the box and straight into the far right hand corner past a flailing keeper for his third of the match - a well-deserved hat-trick for the most animated and hungry-looking Ronaldinho performance that I have seen playing in a Milan shirt.

Juventus 0 AC Milan 3

Once again, Beckham began the game in his familiar position the day after Galaxy team-mate Landon Donovan made his on-loan debut for Everton in the English premiership.
The first half started fairly cautiously with neither Juventus or Milan really establishing the upper hand, and it was on 28 minutes that a corner was not dealt with by the Juve defence, the ball passed through the defenders on the near-post and fell to Nesta who made no mistake from all of 1 yard to put Milan 1-0 up.
The first half delivered no further goals, but like Wednesdays game, the tackles were flying in and the ref's whistle was kept busy. Beckham appeared to be fitting in well to the Serie A side, but was not as busy this time as in the previous game where he was often to be found in and around the penalty area.
The second half started in earnest as both teams sought out another goal. As a statement of intent, Juve brought on Del Piero after just 10 mins of the second half, but after 71 minutes Milan scored again from a corner to take them 2 up. Ronaldinho headed into the back of the Juventus net to give Milan a two-goal cushion. Milan kept possession for much of the remainder of the game much to the frustration of the Juve faithful who let of enough fire-crackers for the cameras to lose sight of much of the game. However, in the closing minutes, Beckham popped a lovely cross into the box for Ronaldinho to slot home for his second and Milan's third.
3-0 and an official 'assist' for the English star in what has been a very good week for AC Milan.

AC Milan 5 Genoa 2

Beckham returns to the field for Milan, pretty much where he left off despite vowing to play anywhere on the pitch that Milan needed him. He was in a familiar position doing a familiar job, some passes were wayward, but others were superb, as was some of the close interplay with his new team-mates.
After just 13 minutes Ronaldinho was expected to open the scoring when Milan were awarded a spot-kick, however this was one occasion when his weak penalty was reasonable easily saved...
Just two minutes later, Ambrosini lays off to Beckham on the edge of the box, but Beckham screws the shot some way wide of the right-hand post. On 24 mins, Genoa punish Milan's failure to score with a well-worked cross into the box, which was all too easily headed home by Sculli, 0-1 to Genoa...
on 31 mins, a lovely Beckham pass is laid off to Ambrosini who is brought down by the keeper, this time Ronaldhino shoots to the left and scores to bring the sides level.
A minute later Beckham pounces onto a loose ball whilst Borriello is asking for a foul, this time shaving the left hand post with a very well struck shot. Beckham continues to be a presence in front of goal but struggles to get the ball out of his feet for the final shot. On 37 minutes, Milan have a free kick halfway into the Genoa half, the ball is passed into the box from the right and shots fly in from several angles until eventually Silva finds the back of the net to put Milan ahead for the first time. Only a minute elapses before we find Beckham flashing a cross in from the far-right which narrowly fails to find a Milan boot.
The game is being played in earnest, there are plenty of tackles going in (and invariably plenty of falling to the floor clutching various parts of the anatomy...), but the score remains at 2-1 up to the half-time whistle.
After a mere three minutes played in the second half, Borriello is found in front of goal by Antonini - he slots it away to take the score to 3-1 and Milan are flying. Borriello again on the hour-mark, this time gets onto a searching cross, he is behind the defence and takes a flying scissor-volley and is somewhat fortunate to hit it into the ground and see it sail over the keeper and into the far left corner of the net - 4-1 in spectacular style - even the narrowest of chances are going in. However on 70 minutes, Gattuso wastes a chance after the ball falls into his path, but only two minutes later Ronaldinho finds a defenders hand in his face in the box and Milan have their third penalty of the night! This time, Huntelaar confidently puts the ball away for 5-1 to Milan.
At 75 minutes, Beckham leaves the field to rapturous applause from the Milan faithful - a somewhat more heart-warming response that the one he received on his return to California last year! Just three minutes later, Genoa get a consolation as Suazo gets free from the Milan defence and bangs the ball into the net for a final score of 5-2.
Does Beckham look at home? You bet he does... he is right where he should be to present the best possible case for inclusion in the England squad as long as he can remain injury-free.