AC Milan battled a 2-1 win over Spezia on Saturday, with Daniel Maldini and Brahim Diaz scoring the goals to temporarily send us top of the Serie A table.
The Rossoneri had to work hard for the three points this past weekend, with Daniele Verde scoring an equaliser in the 80th minute to spark concern that we may well be held.
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However, Diaz came off the bench to score just six minutes later, as we picked up another important victory to continue our impressive start to the Serie A season.
Milan player ratings vs Spezia:
Mike Maignan, 6 – Couldn’t do anything for the goal given the deflection, was alert to danger throughout and accurate with his distribution.
Pierre Kalulu, 7 – Good performance in both phases of the game as he made important contributions at either end of the pitch with his assist for our opener being the highlight of his play going forward.
Fikayo Tomori, 6.5 – Difficult task keeping Nzola quiet, but stuck to his assignment well and continued to battle throughout to nullify his threat.
Alessio Romagnoli, 6 – Continued his positive form with a solid, albeit unspectacular, display in the heart of the backline. However, keeping it clean and making no mistakes is ideally the consistency we want to keep things tight in defence.
Theo Hernandez, 6.5 – Defended well for the most part despite Verde getting space on our left side to take his shot which led to the goal. A decent outing as he looked a threat going forward too.
Sandro Tonali, 6.5 – Unlucky with the deflection for Spezia’s goal, but adapted and adjusted well under pressure to put in another positive display as he continues to grow this season.
Franck Kessie, 5 – Struggling for form to start the season as perhaps not quite fully fit after his injury. Slow, made mistakes and wasn’t able to dominate the midfield like we know he can.
Alexis Saelemaekers, 7.5 – Assist for the winning goal with some brilliant play down the left side, as he was everywhere in this one and showed great work ethic to be a real problem for Spezia on and off the ball.
Daniel Maldini, 7 – What a moment. The Maldini legacy continues at Milan after he scored with a thumping header to give us the lead. A rare start for the youngster, did struggle to influence the game in the first half but overall, can be pleased with his impact.
Ante Rebic, 5.5 – A poor showing on this occasion as he couldn’t get going and show his quality in the final third as he shifted over to the left side for this one. Came into this game in good form, but will hope to put this behind him and get back to being decisive.
Olivier Giroud, 5.5 – Good to see him back after his injury setback, but struggled to offer us the focal point up front we usually thrive off and to get involved in our general play. Hopefully this will have helped him get back to his best condition though.
Substitutes:
Rafael Leao, 6.5 – Mixed bag as he showcased some quality to go close to getting on the scoresheet, but made wrong decisions on other occasions when we needed a killer ball in the final third.
Pietro Pellegri, 5.5 – Not a lot to report on as he came in and gave us fresh legs up top in the second half.
Ismael Bennacer, 6.5 – Picked up the tempo of our play with his quick distribution and made a positive impact in midfield.
Davide Calabria, 6 – Another player that it was good to see get on the pitch after injury issues, got forward well and banked important minutes.
Brahim Diaz, 7 – Another big moment for him as he took his tally to four goals in seven games across all competitions so far this season. Gave us that cutting edge at a pivotal time to score his goal and give us the lead again, and he’s becoming a really vital piece in this side was his important and timely goals.
