AC Milan secured a 1-0 win over Verona at San Siro on Saturday, but it wasn’t a particularly convincing performance from the Rossoneri.
An early goal from Rafael Leao broke the deadlock, and it was hoped that would settle Milan and allow us to go on and put together a strong display.
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However, while we limited Verona to very little and defended well, there was a frustrating lack of quality in our build-up play and attacking threat in the final third in what was a really uninspiring performance.
Having also failed to take advantage of some late opportunities on the counter-attack, it was a disappointing effort overall, but importantly, it’s three points and a clean sheet as Milan got back to winning ways.
AC Milan player ratings vs Verona:
Marco Sportiello, 6.5 – Solid first start as he was comfortable and accurate with his distribution, and made a crucial save in the first half on Folorunsho’s header to preserve our lead.
Malick Thiaw, 6 – Focused throughout and showed he was up for the physical battle with a positive effort to help keep things tight at the back and earn a clean sheet.
Simon Kjaer, 6 – Organised the backline well with his experience and positioning. Wasn’t particularly tested, but read the game well to make important interventions at times.
Fikayo Tomori, 6.5 – Did well with his aggressive style of defending, as he followed up his performance in midweek with another positive display here. Similar to his defensive partners, did well to keep an important clean sheet.
Yunus Musah, 6.5 – Showed great work ethic and energy to play out wide and get up and down our right side. Added an important presence to impose himself on the game, but just lacked a bit of quality in the final third to make a decisive contribution.
Rade Krunic, 6 – Similar story in that he did well defensively to shield the backline and dispossess Verona in key areas, but his limited play in possession limits us as a unit, and that is a part of his game that has to improve to help his teammates. Picked up an injury which hopefully isn’t serious.
Tijjani Reijnders, 6 – Covered plenty of ground and showed technical quality at times with his positive passing, but not really a difference-maker which is what we need in the final third to be more impactful and effective.
Alessandro Florenzi, 6.5 – Did well in both phases of the game, as he worked tirelessly to keep things tight on that flank while also pushing forward whenever possible. Eventually replaced after a solid shift.
Christian Pulisic, 5 – Not a good day for him as he couldn’t get anything going on the right flank. Can’t question his desire and work-rate, but didn’t add any quality to that on the ball, and that was a problem for us in a below-par attacking display.
Olivier Giroud, 6 – Did well to set Leao on his way for the goal, but there wasn’t much else from him as his usual flicks and touches didn’t come off to help us string our play together.
Rafael Leao, 6.5 – Took his goal really well and that proved to be the most decisive moment in the game. However, only saw flashes of his quality thereafter as he couldn’t make the most of being in some dangerous situations, especially in 1-on-1s where he usually excels.
Substitutes:
Luka Jovic, 5.5 – Working his way to full fitness, but showed good movement at times and perhaps should have done better with a late chance, while his teammates couldn’t find him on the counter accurately enough either.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, 6 – Added physicality in midfield after coming on, and that was important in helping us see out the game to secure all three points.
Davide Bartesaghi, 5 – Great moment for him to come on and make his debut at San Siro, hopefully learned a lot from the entire matchday experience and can play a role for us this season.
Tommaso Pobega, N/A
Noah Okafor, N/A