Sampdoria 0-1 Milan: Player Ratings

By Ahmed Khalifa -

AC Milan ran out 1-0 victors against Sampdoria at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Cristian Brocchi’s first game as manager.

Carlos Bacca produced a moment of quality with just under 20 minutes left after previously being wasteful, ensuring Milan cut the gap on fifth placed Fiorentina to seven points.

The ratings are as follows:

Starting XI:

Donnarumma (7): Young Gigio again played in between the sticks with a lot of confidence and made some great saves to add another clean sheet to his name and for the Rossoneri.

Abate (6): The speedy right-back was yet again running up and down the right flank and put in a few good crosses, one in which almost ended in the back of the net was it not for a fantastic Viviano save.

Alex (7): The Brazilian veteran barely let the opposition attack make or take chances making a fine and solid duo with young defensive partner Alessio Romagnoli and keeping a clean sheet for the away side.

Solid defence keeps Samp at bay. | Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Romagnoli (7): Alessio was pretty solid at the back and barely put a foot wrong. The young Italian defender bossed the backline and helped keep a clean sheet putting on a good performance.

Antonelli (7): Cementing himself as our best full-back, Luca had a great match both in defense and in attack where he put in a fine show contributing by creating chances and stopping the opposition attack from doing so.

Kucka (7): Juraj got injured in the warm-up for the match and was a doubt to start. Thankfully, the magic spray worked and he played the whole 90 minutes. The Slovakian was a tank and once again worked tirelessly in midfield.

Montolivo (7): Il Capitano again didn’t have the best of matches but looks to put an end to his poor run of form. Monto is undoubtedly an important part of the squad and it is crucial to the team that he’s in good form.

Brocchi watches from the sidelines. | Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Bertolacci (4): Andrea hasn’t been able to replicate his fine performances for Genoa in a Rossonero shirt and it is worrying and irritating the Rossoneri faithful. Hopefully Bertolacci can turn things around as soon as possible.

Bonaventura (6): It was Giacomo Bonaventura’s first time in a while playing in the trequartista role after the formation was recently switched back from 4-4-2 to 4-3-1-2. The Italian put in a decent performance and provided the assist to Carlos Bacca.

Bacca (7): Carlos has been quite wasteful throughout the match but finally found the back of the net after a goal drought, scoring the only goal of the game and his 15th of the season.

Balotelli (MOTM – 8): Super Mario put in a decent performance tonight only lacking a goal. The Italian attacker caused problems for the Sampdoria defense and midfield.

Bacca and Balo celebrate. | Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Substitutes:

Poli (6): The Italian midfielder did exactly what he came on to do and that was to add energy to the midfield and contribute defensively and offensively.

Menez (N/A): The Frenchman came on later in the match to bring pace and flair to the attack and hopefully help get another goal for a 2-goal cushion.

Boateng (N/A): Prince was put on late in the match to bring on some fresh legs to keep up the tempo and hold on to the 1-goal lead.

The Coach:

Brocchi (6): Cristian Brocchi made his professional coaching debut with the Rossoneri after taking over from Sinisa Mihajlovic defeating Vincenzo Montella’s Sampdoria 1-0. The 4-3-1-2 formation and substitute decisions didn’t look too good, but they got the Rossoneri the win and a crucial 3 points nonetheless.

Tags AC Milan Bacca Balotelli Brocchi Milan ratings Sampdoria Serie A
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