AC Milan were held to a 0-0 draw by Cremonese at the Stadio Giovanni Zini on Tuesday night as the Rossoneri were not at their vibrant best.
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It was a game of few clear-cut chances and Stefano Pioli will be concerned with how his forwards failed to hurt one of the weakest sides in Serie A.
The first shot on target for Milan came when the ball broke for Brahim Diaz on the edge of the box after a free kick had been headed away. His low drive was easily caught by Marco Carnesecchi.
Cremonese then had a decent spell of possession as Milan looked sluggish that ended with a promising ball across the box missing all nearby Grigiorossi players.
There was a close eye on Milan’s tactical setup at the start of the game as Malick Thiaw was handed his first-ever start for the club. That led to suggestions that it would be a back three of Thiaw, Fikayo Tomori and Simon Kjaer with Junior Messias and Fode Ballo-Toure as the wingbacks.
As soon as play began, it was clear that aback three was in play when Milan had the ball and t meant Ballo-Toure could show his skills much further up the pitch.
It was becoming a very turgid display from Milan but the first good move of the game came in the 23rd minute and saw Messias get down the right and cut the ball across the near post where Diaz was rushing in. He threw himself at the ball but could not make enough contract.
It was immediately followed by a great cross from Sandro Tonali which gave Ante Rebic a free header. He made a poor connection though and the ball bounced past the post. The chances came thick and fast then as Rebic released Origi who had his shot saved by Carnesecchi.
The pressure on the Cremonese goal was building around the half-hour mark as Tonali got into the box and saw his low pass across to Divock Origi be intercepted just in time.
Thiaw almost marked his debut with a goal as he had a good header from a corner palmed away by the goalkeeper in the first half. Carnesecchi continued to stand firm against powerful shots from Messias and Rebic.
10 minutes into the second half, Milan thought they had the lead when the ball broke kindly for Origi in the box and he was able to poke home. Replays showed he was offside when he received the ball and the goal was chalked off by the Video Assistant Referee.
That proved to be Origi’s final involvement as he was then substituted by Pioli for Rafael Leao. The coach clearly felt that the Diavolo were in need of more firepower to avoid needing another late goal.
With Leao’s introduction yet to make any real impact, Pioli’s next roll of the dice was to bring Charles De Ketelaere into the game with just over 15 minutes to go. The Belgian came on for Diaz.
Other than the occasional foray into the box that eventually led to nothing, Milan were not looking as creative as they had towards the end of the first half. Cremonese were sat very effectively in a low block and had the Rossoneri where they wanted them.
Cremonese were finding space on the break in the last 10 minutes and Tomori had to defend well to block a David Okereke shot which led to a corner that came to nothing.
Marko Lazetic was brought on by Pioli for his first senior action although he managed to get booked before he had even touched the ball for pushing and shoving in the box.
Lazetic had the final half-chance of the game as he turned well in the box but fired his shot over the bar.
Having created fairly little towards the end of the game, Milan couldn’t feel too aggrieved that Cremonese had held on to what is a superb point for them at the bottom of the table.
A draw means that Milan are now eight points behind Napoli but still sat in second place. Cremonese are in 18th.