AC Milan suffered a 1-0 defeat to Inter in the Derby della Madonnina on Sunday as our poor form continues despite tactical changes from Stefano Pioli.
That’s now three consecutive defeats for the Rossoneri as we’re without a win in our last five league outings, and that leaves us stuck in sixth place in the Serie A standings, albeit level on points with fourth-placed Lazio for now, having played a game more.
READ MORE: What Pioli said after Milan’s heavy defeat to Lazio
Lautaro Martinez’s header was the difference between the two sides this weekend though, with a passive Milan offering very little in the opening 45 minutes before changes to the system and personnel in the second half saw us show some fight and threat.
However, we couldn’t find a way back into the clash and so we now head into our encounter with Torino on Friday night once again desperate to get a positive result to start building confidence and belief.
AC Milan player ratings vs Inter:
Ciprian Tatarusanu, 6.5 – Produced some crucial saves to keep us in the game and so it was a much better effort from the shot-stopper amid ongoing question marks over his reliability. Could do little about the goal after poor marking from the set-piece.
Pierre Kalulu, 5.5 – Limited to a defensive role in this new system that Pioli tried. Caution in the first half hindered him, while he struggled at times with Inter’s attacking play down that side of the pitch.
Simon Kjaer, 5 – Had a difficult time getting to grips with Martinez, never more so than on the goal as it was poor marking from the experienced Dane who should have been tighter and more physical with his challenge.
Matteo Gabbia, 5.5 – Tricky for him in the back-three, but he did reasonably well in the circumstances despite the entire backline having a tough night as a whole, with Inter dominating particularly in the first half.
Davide Calabria, 5.5 – Put in a shift defensively as although he was scrambling at times with Inter switching play quickly, he stuck to his task. Didn’t offer much in the way of quality going forward though.
Messias Junior, 5 – Not good enough again as he didn’t offer any quality in possession. Milan struggled in general to hold on to the ball in the first half, but he often ran into trouble and gave the ball away cheaply when we did get it back. Replaced at the break.
Sandro Tonali, 6 – Improved in the second half as we started to gain some sense of control over proceedings, and his committed and determined nature became more influential. As with the rest of the Milan XI, struggled to have that influence in the opening 45 minutes.
Rade Krunic, 6 – Similar to Tonali in the sense that he did show more in the second half as we started to get on the ball, while he dug in and put in an important shift to get about the pitch and give us some presence in midfield.
Theo Hernandez, 5 – Another really disappointing outing despite being given an opportunity to get forward with more freedom with the tactical tweak. We need him to rediscover his spark in his attacking play down that left flank, as it’s an important dynamic to our play that has gone missing.
Divock Origi, 5 – Didn’t have much of an impact on the game as the role he was deployed in didn’t play to his strengths and maximise his qualities. Instead of using his pace and movement in the channels to stretch the Inter defence, he was often playing through the middle and crowded out too quickly.
Olivier Giroud, 5 – Had no chance in the first half as he was given zero service from his teammates, but he then squandered a huge opportunity in the second half that he should have buried. Instead, his touch was poor as he hesitated, and that was a big moment in the game that we wasted.
Substitutes:
Brahim Diaz, 5.5 – Added a bit of a spark to our play in an improvement on what we saw in the first half, but there was no decisiveness to his impact as we failed to find a breakthrough.
Rafael Leao, 5.5 – Had his moments where he looked a threat, but floated in and out of the game in the second half and didn’t have as big an impact on the encounter as hoped.
Alexis Saelemaekers, 5.5 – Got about the pitch and did plenty of running, but similarly to the others who came on, didn’t make any all-important contributions that impacted the outcome.
Malick Thiaw, 6 – Looked strong and physical in his duels after coming in, a decent cameo appearance.
Ante Rebic, N/A
