Pioli has not lost to Mourinho in his time at Milan. EVER. Nine games. ZERO losses. Today was another butt kicking. I know it got nervy for about 15 minutes, but it was still a beatdown. Love it.
On to the ratings!
Player Ratings
Goal Keeping
MAIGNAN 8 – Didn’t save the PK but that’s not on him. Made several key saves to keep Roma at bay while the game was still in the balance. Diving save at the post against Celik? check. Tip a ball from distance over the bar? Check. Great stuff.
Goal Keeping Overall 8
Defense
HERNÁNDEZ 9.5 – DAMN! You know he was playing so good pretending to be a CB that I almost forgot the sexy LB stuff he has in his arsenal. He managed to keep Celik at bay, frustrate Cristante AND made a late run to slam in a world class banger to seal the deal. It’s so nice to get a reminder of the top shelf LB he is.
KJÆR 7 – Not bad. Not bad. Still a step slow but used his smarts to make up for it. A couple professional fouls really slowed down Roma when they threatened to open things up. Lovely header to assist Giroud. Don’t wanna see him there forever but I can’t complain.
GABBIA – 8 Is that Romelu Lukaku in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? Great stuff.
CALABRIA FOTM 6.5 – For 69 minutes actually played really, really well. Then had a total brain fart. THEN played good after. It’s hard to forget the stupid foul but that doesn’t erase an otherwise solid performance.
Defense Overall 8
Midfield
ADLI 7.5 – Better stuff today. Love his action near goal. Super patient on the ball. That same ‘patience’ appeared slow when he was deeper at DM. Faster decisions today. Still some light touches but certainly better. Slowly coming along. Sick of all this ‘proving Pioli wrong BULLSHIT’. If he wanted to prove him wrong he would have left. He knew his time was coming. The time is NOW.
REIJNDERS 8 – Another masterclass today. Flying under the radar. He won’t have the big numbers lazy analysts want to see but he’s in control of everything. Great movement today. Lovely little square ball to set up Adli. A couple stabs from distance that I love too. Easily one of the signings of the summer across the league.
LOFTUS-CHEEK 6.5 – Eh…. after good game last week seemed to be drifting in all the wrong spaces. Got into Leão’s way more than once. Also made a few passes that didn’t really go anywhere.
Midfield Overall 8
Forwards
LEÃO 7/9 – Some moments of great service and other moments of disinterest. Getting better but still floating in and out of things. Still lingering centrally too often. The good stuff still comes from wide positions.
PULISIC 8 – A lot of near misses but always in the right spot. Could have had a real beauty off the header from the Leão cross. No luck. Danger man all game long though. The wing switching action we get from him and Leão is gorgeous to watch.
GIROUD 10 MOTM – Close between him and Hernandez but I’ll lean towards the striker. Great header to expand the lead, a real strikers finish. Then later with the beautiful heel flick to set up Theo’s clincher. Just wonderful stuff from him all game long. Can’t say enough.
Forwards Overall 9
Subs
MUSAH 7 – ALMOST had a goal of the year candidate off a slaloming run.
OKAFOR 7 – Good to see him back
JIMENEZ 6.5 – He played
ZEROLI 6.5 – So did he
Subs Overall 7 Why not?
Coaching
PIOLI 9 – Perfectly rotated the squad to be ready for this game. Also another perfect spot to get Adli yet another full 90. Did I mention he still has NOT lost to Mourinho in his time at Milan? I could type that again and again and again. Hahahahaha. LOL. That’s just great.
Final Thoughts
Next up is Udinese who has been on much better form of late. Cioffi has them energized and scoring. Also, we’ve only beaten them once in the last 6 meetings so don’t go into that one with delusions of grandeur. To say they are a thorn in our side would be an understatement. They would love nothing more than a home win against us to solidify their place in mid table.
Forza Milan
Lisi
