AC Milan secured a 3-1 win over Cagliari on Wednesday, as the Rossoneri picked up three important points with an impressive comeback victory.
There was frustration in the first half as we struggled to find a breakthrough, and that was compounded by the hosts taking the lead as our assignment become more complicated.
READ MORE: Milan player ratings vs Cagliari: Trio impress in comeback win
Nevertheless, Milan found a way to turn things around, and we now head into our encounter with Lazio this weekend with confidence having returned to winning ways, and it’s hoped it can spark a vital run of form, both domestically and in Europe, as we face some crucial fixtures in the coming weeks.
Great response, show of character after going behind
We’ve often seen when Milan struggle to find a breakthrough against stubborn opposition or through our own poor attacking play, that we leave ourselves vulnerable at the other end of the pitch.
That pattern repeated itself in midweek as despite dominating possession and adopting a measured approach, we conceded the first goal of the game and subsequently the pressure of the situation increased.
Importantly though, we saw a positive response from the players who showed character and a clinical edge to turn things around before half-time, and go on to finish the job to seal a comeback win.
Loftus-Cheek off the mark with a stunner
An ever-present so far this season, Ruben Loftus-Cheek scored his first Milan goal with a stunning effort from distance in a memorable moment for the midfielder.
The 27-year-old has featured in every game so far, and while he has impressed with his physicality, athleticism and presence in midfield to add an important new dynamic to our side, he had also registered two assists.
However, that goal was the only thing missing, and having now gotten off the mark, it’s hoped that there are plenty more to come from him, as we’ve seen that he can threaten in dangerous areas and make a decisive contribution.
Adli provides positive solution
Following the injury to Rade Krunic, and with Ismael Bennacer still sidelined, there was a concerning and significant void in the Milan XI in that defensive midfield role.
Yacine Adli was given the responsibility of providing a solution in midweek, and he produced a promising performance to suggest that he can fill that void efficiently in the coming games.
While he’ll be disappointed with himself for his role in the build-up to the goal we conceded where he could have defended better to remove the threat, he settled into the game well thereafter, making key interventions while also showcasing his technical ability in possession too.
Milan summer recruits show potential jump in quality
With goals from Loftus-Cheek and Noah Okafor, and assists from Tijjani Reinders and Christian Pulisic, the ‘new-look’ Milan with our summer recruits showed what it’s capable of.
While we did still struggle at times in this one, with the options we had last season, there’s a strong argument to suggest that we wouldn’t have turned it around with that side given the lack of decisiveness and quality we saw time and time again.
There’s still more to come from this group as they will hopefully improve with experience and maturity by playing regularly in a Milan shirt, and so that was undoubtedly a crucial sign.
Important not to need usual suspects off the bench
Tying in with the point above, it was quite refreshing that we ultimately didn’t have to rely on the likes of Olivier Giroud and Rafael to come off the bench and turn it around.
Too often we’ve had an over-reliance on our key individuals to make the difference, and so the fact that others stepped up and produced will be a real boost for them and Pioli moving forward.
Such is the fixture schedule, we will have to continue to rotate at times over the course of the season. With that in mind, the likes of Okafor, Samuel Chukwueze, Adli, and even Luka Romero and Luka Jovic to name a couple more, have to add quality when involved and decrease that dependency on our top players.