AC Milan battled from 2-0 and 3-1 down to earn a draw against Sassuolo in a game that perhaps perfectly symbolised where the team are currently at.
As MilanNews writes, there were positives and negatives from the thriller at the Mapei Stadium. Milan went two goals behind early on as they were asleep defensively, yet they battled back with the kind of fighting spirit that they will need to overturn the deficit against Roma.
The positives
Milan now have the best attack in Serie A when it comes to away matches, with 37 goals in 17 games. The three goals today were the result of a siege: 23 shots attempted, 7 of which were on target.
Above all the goals came from different sources: Noah Okafor was once again like Daniele Massaro scoring his fifth goal off the bench, after Luka Jovic found himself in the right place at the right time to reduce the deficit in an Inzaghi-esque way.
Rafael Leao was arguably the strongest player on the pitch as he put the team on his back and created a goal out of nothing in the first half with his solo run.
Good indications also came from Samuel Chukwueze, who will long remember this afternoon for having two goals disallowed for a matter of millimetres. Christian Pulisic also got involved off the bench and could have perhaps won the game.
The negatives
On the other hand, Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s performance this afternoon and in the first leg against Roma were far from his usual levels, with wastefulness in possession and a lack of clarity in decision making.
The defensive frailty seen in Reggio Emilia cannot be replicated in four days. Simon Kjaer hadn’t started for over a month and there had to be a reason, because in the open field he was exposed and he also failed to help Alessandro Florenzi contain Laurienté.
A couple of counters created havoc, and his substitution in the 55th minute – apparently with a flexor problem – with the entry of Matteo Gabbia was a liberation. The Dane was a pillar of the Scudetto win, but we have now reached the end of his cycle.
Malick Thiaw also looked shaky at the back again and even Théo Hernandez had his positive and negative moments across the 90 minutes, being denied by Consigli on a couple of occasions.
“The Dane was a pillar of the Scudetto win, but we have now reached the end of his cycle.”
He tore his ACL in week 15 of that season. Milan defense got better from that point on. While he was healthy, even by his own words, Milan was giving up sh*t goals.
He was a pillar to nothing. He was decent in his first year and a half, but these last 3 years, he has been either injured or a liability.
He was horrendous in today’s game. Losing almost every duel and misplacing almost every pass.
He’s never been the same since that ACL.
At this point we would be better off giving the experience to someone like Simic or another youth team player. When other CBs need a rest or are suspended.
“Milan now have the best attack in Serie A when it comes to away matches, with 37 goals in 17 games._
Man the spin factory in full effect. How about looking at the defence…about us being 9th in terms of goals conceded …which clearly is the problem
Yeah, our defence stats are a bigger headache, especially against transition/attacking play teams like Inter and Juve. And when we leak goals like that, there is no guarantee we will come away with something from these 2 games. And i fear a mid to lower tier team even more who gets to score against us and implement the low block (our achilles heel) …if we can’t contain attacks we are on a wing and a prayer. Trust me, 2nd position is going to be a fight till the last game.