The past week has given us Milanistas three noteworthy games. The thriller at the San Siro, where Milan toppled an impressive Cagliari side 4-3, a lucky 1-1 tie in the Champions League against Marseille, and Sunday's game at Catania resulted in one of the most unexpected finishes I have ever witnessed.

Us soccer fanatics have a short term memory. It's unbelievable how quickly we're able to forgive and forget. A player can win himself inside the hearts of fans with one goal. An icon can be whistled mercilessly after one crucial mistake. Just when I thought I had seen it all, our very own Klaas-Jan Huntelaar left me speechless when he transformed his Bidone d'Oro into a Ballon d'Or in stoppage time.

Milan vs. Catania was shaping up to be one of the most anticlimactic and frustrating games in recent memory. The play upfront was brutal. Pato made at least a dozen of his head scratching errors, Ronaldinho's joga bonito skills were negated by players such as Izco and Silvestre. Yes I know.. Izco and Silvestre... Pirlo's absence was notable, as most of the counters ran through Seedorf, who has an uncanny ability to slow down the game tremendously. Some readers e-mailed me asking why Seedorf seems untouchable in the line-up. He has long been noted for having a very strong, charismatic personality. Last year when he was played out of position (a more retracted centre midfield role), he lashed out at Ancelotti via the media. Either way, Milan does not really have too many options at his position. Di Gennaro is nowhere near spectacular, and has barely played in the last six months.

As the game today winded down to stoppage time, Leonardo threw in his entire attacking arsenal. Inzaghi replaced Borriello, and Huntelaar came on for Flamini. As Catania laid down the defensive fort, Milan quickly turned to a 4-1-1-4 formation. I'll be honest, when Huntelaar came in I rolled my eyes. A last desperate act of a coach trying to salvage hopes for the Scudetto title. Fast forward a minute later: The Dutch striker rifles in a bullet from outside the penalty box which catches Catania's keeper by surprise. Goal. 1-0. Sheer ecstasy ensues in my living room. Huntelaar euphoric celebration might have been topped by my decibel shattering screams of joy. Anyways..

The next minute of my life might have been the most emotional of the year for me as a Milan fan. It was almost like seeing your underachieving child finally breaking the barrier of mediocrity. Our big time summer acquisition from Real Madrid receives the ball from Inzaghi on the very next possession, takes a quick look at the goal to coordinate himself, and lobs a marvellous Marco Van Basten-esque ball into the top corner of the net, this time giving Catania's keeper no chance at a save. Now I've seen thousands of goals, and this was a touch of a champion. A type of goal very few players will even try to attempt, much less finish so emphatically.

All of the sudden, a player I had labelled a month ago as "The Dutch Farce" became my new Dutch Hero. After I wrote my column labelling him as of the worst Milan performers in quite some time, I received a few death threats from his faithful followers. Thankfully, his nicer fans were quick to point out a myriad of excuses. Some made sense, but I refused to believe them. My typical "sports fanatic" impatience meant that eight games of ineptitude from Klaas were enough to make me highly skeptical of his lacklustre performances. Plus, after the way Marco Borriello has been scoring goals lately, there was a feeling that Huntelaar's moment to impress was already gone with the wind, and that the January transfer would see him wind up somewhere else. However, two stellar minutes are not enough to accurately judge a player. The first goal he scored was the goalkeeper’s error. Let's see how he performs in the next few games. I don't like gushy moments, so let's move on to talking about players who underperformed.

Random Notes

- Is there any reason Luca Antonini was subbed in for Zambrotta? Any reason whatsoever? Barring an injury from Gianluca, why should a player who is significantly worse in every possible category be put in? Mind boggling.

- We have finally surpassed Juventus and are now second in the Serie A standings, seven points behind Intergentina. This upcoming weekend will give us a good chance to come within four, as Inter face Juventus in what's sure to be a heated contest.

- Our squad truly is paper thin. Razor thin. Leonardo has seemingly found his preferred line-up now, and an injury to any of the key components would send our weak foundation crumbling down to the ground. The game against Cagliari proved that our defence without Alessandro Nesta becomes a disorganized mess. Thiago Silva can't be a one man show in the back. Kakha Kaladze's defending leaves a lot to be desired and he frequently has inexplicable concentration lapses. Did anyone see how easily he let Cagliari's Alessandro Matri blow by him last week? Elementary defending from a seasoned veteran. And let me pose this question just in case a Milan medic wanders onto my page, where in the world is Daniele Bonera? Can we have a timetable for his return?

- I watched Huntelaar's goals a dozen times on my TiVo. I really am happy for him. When the whistles blew and the game ended, all the players lifted him in the air to celebrate. You could really see a wounded, prideful player who finally regained his confidence. Some readers thought that my disgruntled thoughts on him meant that I was content with him failing. Quite the opposite, I was just a frustrated fan eagerly waiting to see positive results which have long been overdue.

- Some readers have asked me for input on Milan's signing of Dominic Adiyiah, who is still pending a medical exam. (Let's hope he has good teeth). If you understood the comment in the parenthesis, consider yourself an avid Milan follower. What I know is that he's a 20 year old Ghanaian striker who played for Fredrikstad. Unfortunately my soccer knowledge does not encompass the Norwegian Premier League so I was unable to catch any of his performances.

- Could we possibly see a formation including both Huntelaar and Borriello, similar to how Juventus often employ two large strikers (Either Trezeguet, Amauri, or Iaquinta) with a playmaker behind them (Diego). Pato and Ronaldinho can't possibly play every game. I'd be curious to see a 4-3-1-2 with a midfield composed of Pirlo, Flamini, and Ambrosini. Then either Seedorf/Pato/Ronaldinho slotted right behind the two target men. It's a formation that would require the two fullbacks to do a lot of running, so Abate would have to be included.

FORZA MILAN!

Be sure to read my previous columns and comment with your feedback!