Milan fell to a damaging 3-0 defeat to Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Monday night as our Champions League hopes continue to fade.
The Rossoneri were looking to bounce back after our defeat to Sassuolo last time out, and this game took on even more importance given Lazio are still in the hunt for a top-four finish too.
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Unfortunately, we couldn’t produce the performance needed to secure a crucial win, with the hosts putting three past us to pile the pressure on Stefano Pioli and the players.
Results on Monday saw us fall to fifth in the Serie A table, and so with just five games to go this season, we have no more room for error and must win out from this point onwards to secure a place in the Champions League.
Milan player ratings vs Lazio
Gianluigi Donnarumma, 5.5 – Couldn’t have done much on the goals and produced some top saves during the game. Left exposed by his teammates on the counter attack.
Davide Calabria, 6 – A decent performance on a bad night for the team. Caught cold slightly for Lazio’s opener, but defended well and pushed forward when possible too.
Simon Kjaer, 6 – Stood tall as we collapsed. Lack of pace is still a liability at times but his leadership and ability to stamp his mark on the game gave us some sense of solidity at the back.
Fikayo Tomori, 4.5 – His worst performance since joining us as he was culpable to some extent on all three goals and so will need to show character to react at the weekend.
Theo Hernandez, 4.5 – Sloppy, gave possession away on multiple occasions and perhaps wasn’t fully fit to warrant a starting berth. Improved as the game went on but a disappointing effort from him.
Franck Kessie, 5.5 – Energy levels weren’t as high as usual as he is arguably feeling the fatigue of carrying us for so long in midfield. We’ll need one big push from him in the final five games.
Ismael Bennacer, 4.5 – Costly mistake in the build-up to the first goal and although he showed his quality at times, there was too much sloppiness and a step off the pace throughout the game.
Alexis Saelemaekers, 6 – Still lacking the quality needed on his end product to be decisive, but one of the few to put in a positive display. Worked hard off the ball, posed a threat going forward.
Hakan Calhanoglu, 5 – Can’t be faulted for desire and wanting to get on the ball to make us tick as he looked to get possession at every opportunity. However, had two big chances where he should have done better and if you don’t take those kind of opportunities at this level, it will come back to hurt you.
Ante Rebic, 5 – Nothing positive of note from the Croatian winger as he struggled to have any sort of influence on the game and wasn’t involved in our most dangerous moments.
Mario Mandzukic, 5.5 – Started brightly as his presence up front to give us a focal point showed positive signs as he brought others into play and had a couple of chances himself. Influence waned as the game went on though and there wasn’t enough quality offered in the final third.
Substitutes:
Rafael Leao, 4.5 – Brought on to give us a spark in the final half hour but offered little.
Brahim Diaz, 5.5 – Tried to influence the game but couldn’t really change things.
Diogo Dalot, 5.5 – A couple of deliveries into the box as he gave us a fresh look on the right flank.
Sandro Tonali, 5.5 – Difficult for him to get up to the pace of the game in a short time and couldn’t turn the tide to get us back into it.
Alessio Romagnoli, 5 – Poor defending from him and Tomori for the third goal, which can arguably be put down to a lack of understanding or chemistry between the pair as well as lack of playing time for our club captain.