AC Milan secured their first point in our Champions League campaign this season after a 1-1 draw with Porto at San Siro on Wednesday night.
The Rossoneri were poor in the first half as they struggled to get to grips with the game in what was a frantic, sloppy and disjointed performance.
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Things did improve after the break as an own goal drew us level on the hour mark after we had suffered an early setback with Luis Diaz scoring in the sixth minute for the visitors, but as we try to claw our way back into contention to advance to the knockout stage, it’s arguably not enough with tough games to come.
Milan player ratings vs Porto:
Ciprian Tatarusanu, 6.5 – Didn’t have much to do in the second half, but he produced some important saves in the opening 45 minutes to keep the score at 1-0, while he couldn’t do much about the goal.
Davide Calabria, 5.5 – Replaced at half-time as a precaution after taking a knock, but he did struggle prior to that too with Diaz proving to be a handful down that flank for Porto.
Fikayo Tomori, 6 – Caught out of position at times after some clever play from the visitors, but was solid for the most part and won plenty of duels to keep things tight at the back.
Alessio Romagnoli, 6 – Similarly to Tomori, he was switched on and focused throughout and was able to largely nullify Porto’s threat in and around our box. However, there were moments where he came off second best in the first half as we came under pressure.
Theo Hernandez, 6 – Started slowly in the first half but his level of performance picked up after the break as he became a more influential part of our attacking play too. Sloppy at times though as he ran into trouble and needs to have better awareness when breaking forward.
Sandro Tonali, 6.5 – Combative, tenacious and faultless when it came to work ethic. It was another mature and influential display from Tonali who is consistently performing at a high level this season and should be a fixture in the starting XI.
Ismael Bennacer, 6 – Was at fault in the build-up to Porto’s goal as he was caught in possession in a dangerous area, but he improved significantly as the game went on and started to help us dictate the tempo and dominate possession.
Alexis Saelemaekers, 5.5 – Worked hard as we would expect, but the quality wasn’t there to match. Was anonymous for most of the first half and snatched at a good chance at 1-1 which was a key moment.
Brahim Diaz, 5.5 – Good to have the Spaniard back in the side as he adds more creativity and craft, but he struggled with the pace of the game and was often closed down and pressured quickly by the Porto midfield which limited his influence on proceedings.
Rafael Leao, 6 – Showed glimpses with his pace and directness, but wasn’t able to offer a decisive presence in the final third be it as a goal threat himself or creating for others.
Olivier Giroud, 6 – Worked hard to give us a focal point up top, and had two good chances to get on the scoresheet. Not his most impactful performance, but a good one nonetheless given he lacked service particularly in the first half.
Substitutions:
Pierre Kalulu, 6.5 – Forced the all-important own goal which salvaged a point, as he added fresh legs and determination in a positive outing after coming on at half-time.
Rade Krunic, 5.5 – Failed to add much to our attacking play after coming on in the second half as he often does lack the quality to be decisive in that area of the pitch.
Franck Kessie, 6 – Kept things ticking in midfield after being introduced as we continued to push forward in search of a winning goal.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 6 – Good impact as he added a different threat up front and thought he had put us ahead, only for his effort to be ruled out due to Theo Hernandez being offside in the build-up.
Daniel Maldini, N/A