It is important not to get too carried away after one game, but AC Milan’s first half display against Bologna – specifically the first half hour – offered very encouraging signs.
Calciomercato.com write how Milan expected a tricky first game in Bologna and while they didn’t have it all their own way, the goals from Olivier Giroud and Christian Pulisic in the first 21 minutes were just reward for ‘perhaps the best opening half hour of the entire Serie A’ in round one.
Fiorentina and Juventus impressed in the first half of their games against Genoa and Udinese respectively, but Milan stood at the same levels if not even better, at least until their not-quite-100% condition saw the performance level dip.
The new 4-3-3 formation shone, while individuals showed their quality. Olivier Giroud got a goal and an assist, Tijjani Reijnders got his first assist, and Christian Pulisic had a hand in the first goal before scoring a rocket.
What needs to be looked into from Pulisic’s point of view was his defensive deployment. Sometimes he left Calabria too open against Ferguson and Likogiannis, which created headaches for the defence and also for Maignan.
After just 20 seconds, Lykogiannis hit the crossbar with a shot from the edge of the box and in truth it is not known what could have happened if Bologna had immediately taken the lead.
Milan struggled late in the first half – with the Rossoblu having three chances – and for around 20 minutes in the second half. This happened both because Thiago Motta introduced Orsolini and because Milan dropped a bit and struggled to recover the ball.
Despite a second half that was not as impressive, Milan started sketching the first certainties of the team: an imperforate defence, a solid and creative midfield and two of the three forwards scoring.
