AC Milan secured a crucial 1-0 win over Torino at San Siro on Friday night, with Olivier Giroud’s goal a potentially big moment in our season.
The Rossoneri were looking to put an end to a miserable run of results in recent weeks, and although it wasn’t particularly convincing, we were able to pick up all three points and secure a confidence boost.
READ MORE: Milan player ratings vs Torino: Giroud seals crucial win for Rossoneri
Giroud’s headed-finish in the second half was enough to split the two sides, and so Stefano Pioli will no doubt be delighted with the clean sheet given our poor defensive displays over the past month, while we did enough to get the victory and hopefully put our slump behind us.
Attention quickly switches to the Champions League next week before we face Monza next Saturday, and the test will now be to back this result up with improved performances and more wins.
Crucial three points, confidence boost
Without a win since January 4 and having drawn two games and lost five in that run since while conceding 18 goals, there was a real sense of desperately needing a win on Friday night.
It didn’t necessarily need to be convincing, but we had to show resilience and produce some quality to get over the line, and eventually we were able to do that against a tough Torino side.
After Giroud’s goal, it did look as though some of the pressure had been lifted and we were able to play with a bit more freedom and so after such an important, confidence-boosting win, it’s hoped that we can kick on.
Must now build on this and put run together
Building on the point above, this win will mean little in the bigger picture if it’s just a one-off victory that temporarily alleviates some pressure.
Pioli knows what is at stake in terms of the battle for a top-four finish in Serie A now, while we need to show progression in the Champions League too.
There is still plenty to play for and ultimately we need to build some momentum and ensure we’re competitive in both competitions in the coming months, in order to salvage something from this season after such a disappointing couple of months.
System change understandable but not best suited
After shipping so many goals in a horrendous run of results, Pioli had to do something to shore things up and make us more organised, disciplined and harder to break down.
While it led to a rather negative performance against Inter, we did show some improvement in that phase of the game, and having opted to stick with the same system with a three-man defence, we finally also kept a clean sheet on Friday too.
There were moments where we risked conceding and so improvements are still needed, but ultimately we still don’t look entirely comfortable in this formation and while it’s a short-term solution to help us get back on track and rediscover some key principles of our identity, it surely won’t provide the long-term answers?
Thiaw does well having been given opportunity
After being limited to a bit-part role so far this season, Malick Thiaw was finally given another chance in the starting line-up and he delivered a promising performance.
The 21-year-old offered strengths and characteristics at the back that could help us rediscover our defensive solidity between now and the end of the season, and although we’ll certainly welcome Fikayo Tomori back with open arms next week, it hopefully won’t be at Thiaw’s expense.
It was arguably also an indication for Pioli to use some of the other players at his disposal to freshen things up instead of relying on the same old solutions. Aster Vranckx and Yacine Adli will be itching to be more involved, while other more senior members of the squad could bring a new energy to the side if given more minutes.
Giroud delivers in big moment again
It wasn’t an easy night for him given the lack of service and his own dip in performance level, but Giroud once again delivered in a big moment for us.
While it’s been a trait throughout his career, the 36-year-old has made a real habit of scoring important goals since he joined us, as he took his tally for this season to 11 goals along with six assists in 28 appearances.
With ongoing talk of a possible contract renewal being in the offing as his current deal is set to expire this summer, while he isn’t getting any younger, he’s still delivering when it matters and he’ll certainly continue to be an important member of the squad.