AC Milan saw off Genoa in a 2-1 win at San Siro on Sunday in their Serie A clash, with Ante Rebic and an own goal sealing the victory for the Rossoneri.
Milan made a positive start to the game and opened the scoring through Rebic’s superb strike, but found themselves with plenty to do at half-time after being pegged back by Mattia Destro’s header.
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Fortunately, given what is at stake in this final run-in of the season, Milan were able to force a winning goal through a Gianluca Scamacca own goal, and in turn secured all three points to hopefully move a little further clear of the chasing pack in the battle for a top-four spot in Serie A.
Milan player ratings vs Genoa:
Gianluigi Donnarumma, 6 – Little he could have done about the goal, but spilled the ball for what could have been a second Genoa equaliser. That aside though, a confident and decent display.
Pierre Kalulu, 6 – Defensively sound, and showed he can produce going forward when he set up Rebic for what should have been his second of the game. Does appear to struggle in possession though, not his strong point.
Simon Kjaer, 7 – Led by example and was solid at the back while marshalling the defence. Produced a pivotal moment with the first block of two on the line in quick succession as Genoa pushed for a point.
Fikayo Tomori, 6 – Lost Destro for the goal and so he’ll be disappointed with his marking for that, but other than that mistake, produced another impressive performance and matched Kjaer’s block on the line with one of his own.
Theo Hernandez, 6 – Put in a good shift defensively which was good to see, but still isn’t firing like he can when going forward. Milan need more quality from him in the attacking phase for him to get back to his usual high levels.
Franck Kessie, 6 – Not one of his more stand-out performances, but solid nonetheless as he battled in the middle of the pitch to give us a foothold in the game.
Ismael Bennacer, 6 – Still working his way to full match fitness and after such a lengthy spell out, he’s still struggling with a bit of inconsistency. Showed his class at times with interceptions and energy to press and retrieve the ball, but also made mistakes in possession.
Alexis Saelemaekers, 6 – Worked hard for the team and always looks to find space to help his teammates and get on the ball. Had a good attempt at goal in the first half before being replaced on the hour mark.
Hakan Calhanoglu, 5.5 – Started brightly, but errors and sloppy play in possession led to him losing the ball on countless occasions, some in dangerous attacking positions. More needed from him especially without Ibrahimovic in the side.
Ante Rebic, 6.5 – An absolute peach of a strike to break the deadlock, and along with his usual work ethic to track back and defend, he was dangerous going forward in one-on-one situations. Should have had a brace though as he missed a bad chance which would have given us the lead shortly after half-time.
Rafael Leao, 4.5 – This performance will serve up as another example of why he isn’t suited to the role of leading the attack. Lacked composure and cutting edge as he missed some decent chances, his movement, lack of pressing and body language all added to the sense of frustration with his display as he lasted just over an hour.
Substitutes:
Diogo Dalot, 6 – Came on with the right attitude to give us a fresh push down the right side.
Mario Mandzukic, 6 – Not a massive influence after coming on as he’s still short of fitness, but he did make a nuisance of himself in the box as we forced the error from Scamacca to seal the win.
Brahim Diaz, 6 – Did well to help us defensively after coming on as we saw out the win and added a different look to our attack.
Sandro Tonali, 6 – Similarly to Diaz, he came on for the last 15 minutes and helped us shut down the Genoa threat for the most part and kept us ticking over in midfield.
Rade Krunic, N/A