AC Milan played out a game of two halves at San Siro on Saturday evening, as they beat Torino 3-2. However, it was not a performance without flaws…
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Massimiliano Allegri has certainly not had the easiest week of preparation, given he has had to firefight a situation between Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao, and then on Friday, the latter was confirmed to be missing this game through injury.
As a result, Niclas Fullkrug was welcomed back into the starting XI, whilst Adrien Rabiot and Davide Bartesaghi also returned.
As first halves go, Milan were not fantastic; they did not have the majority of chances, and Strahinja Pavlovic’s goal, whilst brilliant, was certainly a bit of a speculative effort. Put it this way, it was not a goal reflecting dominance, quite the opposite.
So, it was not too much of a surprise, then, when Toro equalised on the stroke of half-time, capitalising on their pressure before and after the goal.
Allegri clearly had a lot to say at halftime, as the improvement in the second half was immediately recognisable. So, when Adrien Rabiot got his side ahead, it was not a shock. In fact, the only shock came when Youssouf Fofana added another within minutes. Certainly striking whilst the iron was still hot.
10 minutes before full-time, Torino would pull one back through Nikola Vlasic
Match report
The first real threat of the game came inside the first five minutes, with Torino clearly up for the game. Some nice defending from Fikayo Tomori got the Rossoneri out of trouble, but there was certainly a bit of sloppiness within the opening stages.
It was not much later before the Diavolo had their own chance, with Luka Modric taking another of his short corners. This time it was Davide Bartesaghi who delivered, and his cross was met by the towering Strahinja Pavlovic. However, he could not get his effort on target.
What followed was a bit more Toro aggression, with Mike Maignan subject to a little bit of pressure between the sticks. Most notably, when asked to attempt a punch into safety, however, he was beaten by Nikola Vlasic, whose prod at the ball went wide, but not by much. A better connection, and it was probably 0-1 to the visitors…
Allegri’s men were certainly picking their moments to go forward, and they almost created a solid chance when Fikayo Tomori attacked the box before crossing the ball to Niclas Fullkrug. However, the German’s semi-acrobatic effort did not connect with the ball.
Not the brightest 20 minutes of the Diavolo’s season so far, that much is certain.
Allegri could be heard shouting for calm on the sidelines after his team’s early sloppiness. Indeed, from the opening of the game, it did not seem like the hosts were the ones in the Champions League battle, with several poor choices on and off the ball.
A mad few minutes saw Adrien Rabiot take a speculative shot from range, which was saved well, and just moments later, from a similar position – albeit from the left-hand side – Pavlovic took aim, taking a touch and then unleashing a venomous strike, hitting the underside of the bar before the back of the net.
Truly a goal of the season contender, and we’re not saying that lightly!
The lead was almost gone instantly, with the Granata quickly threatening. Duvan Zapata almost levelled the game, whilst the hero of the moment, Pavlovic, had to get in the way of another chance, keeping the game level.
It would eventually go, though, as just before half-time, Torino got an equaliser. Maignan got down well to tip a Vlasic shot onto the post, and it even seemed like it was going to bounce off the post onto his back and into his net. However, it instead fell into the feet of Giovanni Simeone, who struck the ball home easily.
Unlucky, but you cannot say it was undeserved.
In the midst of all the madness, it may have been easy to miss a bit of nice link-up play from Fullkrug, who certainly seemed to be the right profile for this game. However, he had not managed to get anything really close to a decisive touch in the first 45.
Allegri started the second half by bringing Fikayo Tomori off for Zachary Athekame, presumably moving Milan into a 4-3-3, with Saelemaekers moving onto the wing. However, Modric and the Swissman positioned themselves in the back three at times, creating a few questions, certainly.
Regardless of who was playing where, the Rossoneri looked a lot stronger in the opening 10 minutes after the restart, which has so often been the case. Indeed, they had much more of the ball, whilst looking more assured in possession.
It quickly paid off, too, Rabiot eventually giving the Diavolo the lead, although all the credit must go to Christian Pulisic for getting into the right position and then firing a ball into the corridor of uncertainty. All the midfielder had to do was get into the right position, and he did.
Just a few minutes later, Fofana would add to the scoring too, making a bit of space for himself in the box before prodding the ball home. Talk about a misery compiler. A well-deserved moment for the Frenchman, too, who was having a great game.
Following the double blow, the game hit a bit of a lull, but it came back to life as Simeone looked to get Torino back into the game with a fantastic strike on goal. However, Maignan made a fantastic save with his leg, a nice strike with a stop to match it.
Not long after his goal, Fofana was replaced by Samuele Ricci, whilst Fullkrug was taken off with Christopher Nkunku coming onto the field.
Expectedly, after the goals, Torino began to be a bit more aggressive, with Allegri’s side soaking up the pressure, and there were certainly a few tense moments with Simeone having a few nice chances to get a goal back.
Shortly after a speculative overhead effort from the Argentine, San Siro welcomed back Santiago Gimenez, after a prolonged period on the sidelines, as he replaced his fellow North American Christian Pulisic.
Samuele Ricci almost got in on the action, with a chance to score against his former team. However, it was quickly overshadowed by a VAR check due to a challenge by Pavlovic in the opposite area, and Toro were given a penalty 10 minutes from time, which Vlasic converted.
What seemingly was heading towards a pretty relaxing final period quickly became anything but. Milan certainly showed as much, too, heading straight down the other end and testing Paleari from kick-off.
The final change of the evening came in the form of David Odogu replacing Saelemaekers, giving the German his first minutes since the end of December.
Ricci came close again on the stroke of full-time, advancing into the box well, but he couldn’t manage to get his strike on target. Thankfully, this attempt was not followed by a VAR check, and shortly after, the full-time whistle was blown. A big three points at San Siro.