AC Milan clinched three crucial points as they prevailed 1-0 against Udinese after late drama. Although it had to be a defensive-minded display, given the red card, several players did well and below are the ratings for the Rossoneri.
If you haven’t already, make sure to check out how we decide the player ratings. From the scale to what affects the rating, we have compiled everything there.
Starting XI
Maignan (6.5): It didn’t end up mattering in the end, seeing as VAR and the referee deemed it offside, but it was a great save from close range on the first shot. Aside from that, he wasn’t really tested that much despite Milan being one man down for most of the game.
Emerson Royal (6.5): It was probably one of his best games for Milan. He was very willing in the aerial duels, winning most of them, and pushed forward in the right moments, both defensively and offensively, to make life difficult for Udinese.
Thiaw (6): The German did much better than what we have seen in recent months, even showing some confidence by pushing up and winning the ball high. The situation at the end (the disallowed goal) was incredibly scrappy, and none of the defenders can really be blamed for it.
Pavlovic (6.5): Even though he had some risky moments, such as the penalty situation that was VAR checked (but not given), he did more good than harm and actually had quite an important role all things considered.
Terracciano (6): The criticised full-back had an inverted role before the red card and throughout the game, he did okay in possession. He certainly didn’t take many risks, but that was almost what we wanted from him and defensively, he was okay too.
Fofana (7): He was immense for most of the game, especially at the start, as it didn’t look like he could be dispossessed. Although most of his work in the second half concerned defending, he helped launch several counter-attacks by combining with his teammates.
Reijnders (N/A): It only seems fair not to give him a rating today, given that it wasn’t a red card. There was barely any contact and the Udinese man clearly tried to take advantage of it, successfully fooling the referee. A big mistake by the latter.
Chukwueze (7 – MOTM) It was a very good finish on the goal, keeping his composure to find the bottom corner. At the end of the day, it was this strike that gave Milan the three points and considering how difficult these months have been for the winger, he deserves the MOTM award here.
Pulisic (6.5): He played in a more central role today and got the assist for Chukwueze early on, putting the right weight on the pass. Obviously, as for all of the attackers after the red card, it wasn’t easy but he did well in possession – forcing a great save out of the keeper – and also helped Terracciano quite a lot.
Okafor (7): We all know his qualities, and he was able to show his main strengths on the opening goal. It was a fantastic run to beat his man, with power and confidence, and there can be no complaints about the pass into the centre. He was subbed off at half-time due to the red card.
Morata (6): He had quite a good opportunity in the first half, receiving a cross that had just the right pace, but his header was straight at the keeper. Then, especially after the red card, he focused more on working hard for the team. Enough to get a pass for sure in the end.
Substitutes
Musah (6): The American played with composure and combined well with his teammates, but there was one occasion where he backed himself into an exposed position (tried to dribble too much). Thankfully, Udinese didn’t convert the chance but it still keeps Musah from a higher rating here.
Abraham (N/A): It was a very unlucky few minutes for him on the pitch. First, he missed a rebound from close range and in the collision that followed, he seemingly dislocated his shoulder. Let’s hope it’s nothing too serious. We could be harsh and give him a 5 for the missed chance, but we’ll refrain.
Loftus-Cheek (5.5): He failed to bring the ball down on more than one occasion and then missed a simple pass to put Fofana through on goal in injury time.
Tomori (N/A): We didn’t see enough of him to give a rating.
pulisic motm, RLC timberlands
If an opposition player can run across your line, fall over, and get you sent off, the rules have gone too far in one direction and common sense needs to be put back into the equation.
That was not a red card.
I agree with the sentiment. I would say by following that logic, the Udinese goal should have been allowed
Totally agree. That was not a red card and the Udinese player conned the referee and VAR. something has to be done about these players simulating fouls to gain advantage over the slightest touch. Football is contact sport for god sake. Not every contact warrants a foul or red card. Smh
Came together like a real team today. Everyone contributed. Flop has to be Tijjani today unfortunately with that rookie mistake.
Puli with another contribution, keeps performing. MOTM for me is Fofana, not Chuk. What an absolute unit in midfield today.
Credit has to be given to Fonseca for the cohones shown to sit Leao down (even if it’s likely for CL rotation) and still have the boys come together like they did.
Hard fought win.
“Credit has to be given to Fonseca for the cohones shown to sit Leao down (even if it’s likely for CL rotation) and still have the boys come together like they did”
I would have prefered that he maintained Abraham and Tomori’s sanctions till the end by not subbing them in, especially that Abraham end up injuring himself and Tomori scored an own goal (disallowed later).
But overall, good game considering we were a man down for an hour.
Tijani made a rookie mistake? When? He didn’t even touch that diver. It was 100% a wrong red card. So a guy dives in front of Tijani, the ref and VAR buy it, and it’s Tijani’s “rookie mistake”??? Shaking my head…
See, the same ref who punished that no-touch (or maybe at most the slightest of all touches) ignored two nasty elbowing fouls and ignored the guy who stepped not once, but twice on Chuk’s foot and elbow. Not even a yellow for any of those three players. Actually Fonseca was the one who got a yellow for protesting these obviously wrong calls.
Don’t fault our guys for this horribly incompetent ref!!!
Have to disagree with u here bud. Check the replay again and check the feet of both players. The movement of the player was indicative of a brush from behind. U can see Deer’s foot swipe the players leg even if just slight it was enough to throw him off.
Actually, I have to disagree. Seeing the slow motion replay, it looked like the Udinese player left his right foot trailing for the contact, didn’t get it, and in trying to bring the foot back forward to go to goal, he clipped the back of his own left foot, stumbled, and went to ground.
I can imagine the referee being conned, only because Reijnders was blocking his view, but I can’t conceive of how the VAR allowed the penalty to stand.
Ok. I’ll also check it again. I do recall the way the guys foot moved but I’ll also check it on the PVR
I think he actually wanted to use Leao, but,Pulisic’s work rate changed his mind. Leao cannot put in that level of defensive work. We needed all hands on deck for that, for the 90+ minutes.
Uh I watched the whole game and really? 6.5 for Pulisic who was our best tonight. He made all the right decisions except for giving away the ball once late in the game, opened rooms for Chuk, RLC and diligently track back. Clearly the Player of the Match.
Good job by Pulisic to see Chuk and pass the ball rather than try to shoot through five defenders in front of him.
Leao would have shot the ball, for sure.
Leao is often criticized for being to unselfish?
Leao critics is not being selfish or unselfish. Most of the critics is about his decision making. He shot when all the defender is in front of him and pass when he have a clear shot in sight.
Abraham didn’t score that rebound because he simply cannot use his left foot. That’s 3-4 goals now he could scored. I can’t understand at this level any striker who can’t shoot with both feet. That’s crazy to me. They are professionals and he should be working with someone to improve on using both feet. Unbelievable.
Unfair red card to Reinjders. The Udinese player conned the referee and I can’t believe he conned VAR too.
Great performance from the team. Credit to Thiaw, Palvovic, Emerson and Terracciano for doing a good job in defence.
Milan management needs to do something bc in January transfer window and provide support to Fonseca. They hired him so they should be the one coming to his defense. Too many unnecessary talk about him being sacked and no response from management in the media about it.
Not sure what was unfair about it, Z. If you’re gonna cut behind a player better make daymn sure you don’t clip him especially since you’re the last man back …
I’ll have to watch it again – if there was any contact it was a boot whisper but Lovric goes down like he’s been shot and should’ve got a yellow for simulation imo.
Apparently, it was Lovric who put his arm on/to Tijani…..most of these refs aren’t bold to make decisions anyway more, they are more keen on relying on tech
There wasn’t much but he did catch the back of the player’s foot with his leg. We would’ve wanted that call if it was the other way around. I think they bailed us out with a couple questionable offsides calls against Udinese, especially the last one. I think it was a toenail.
Sometimes you need luck to be on your side. I’m OK with that. We needed that win …
NO he did not catch the back of the player’s foot!
I have since watched slow motion replays of that moment, going frame by frame.
First and foremost, Reijnders’ legs and feet never came close to this Udinese guy’s back foot.
If you watch the motion of this Udinese guy’s right leg, it comes forward, clears anything remotely resembling any part of Reijnder’s legs or boots, and then, and only then, it suddenly develops a “hitch” in the forward progress (well past any part of Reijnders lower extremities), and he then proceeds to drag this right leg so that it stays back and causes him to fall down.
If it wasn’t for the fact that the hitching motion happened too late for Reijnders to have caused it, yeah, it sure could be interpreted as the guy getting his back foot clipped.
CLEARLY A DIVE.
This is a definite step up in diving technique from the days of Andryiv Shevchenko, who used to make one of his back legs swing across as it was coming forward to clip the other leg, thus tripping himself.
I still remember seeing Shevchenko do this at the World Cup, many years ago. The replay clearly showed that he had tripped himself and that the defender had not even touched him.
But, he won a PK, having done this in the box, by just running past a defender and tripping himself.
It was super obvious on the TV replays, but at the time there was no VAR.
So, yeah, similar idea, but different execution, making it harder for the VAR refs who are time constrained to go over frame by frame what exactly happened with his right leg.
THIS WAS A DIVE. PERIOD. VAR MISSED THE CALL.
Doesn’t take much contact from that position unfortunately. And you can’t “fake” the clip because the leg he touches gets pushed behind the planted one…. Speaking from experience on that.
He definitely makes contact there.
Not every contact in a “last man challenge” gets a red. See, for instance, Rodri’s yellow vs Croatia at the Euros. It is a red only if it judged to be a “reckless” challenge, especially holding or pulling. Reijnder’s certainly was not reckless enough to deserve a red. It was too light for that.
It was a DIVE. The guy made himself fall over, faking contact with his right leg.
See above.
Or better said, “denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity” instead of “last man challenge”.
Well, Gandalf here says he watched it frame by frame and Reijnders did not make contact.
Italian journalists have been saying that the red card was wrong, too.
@ACM1899. Trust me Reinjders didn’t touch that diver. He clipped the back of his own when he was looking for contact and didn’t get it. The replay clearly shows that. What I don’t understand is how VAR allowed that red card to stand when they have better video review that the replays we see on the game.
This is Serie A corruption at its finest. It amazes me how the English Premier League refs and VAR can get these call right but only Serie A refs and VAR can’t get it right.
This was a simulation and the Udinese player should have been yellow carded for it. This was a grave injustice to Reinjders.
Team played well. Fofana was a monster, I can now see that the team is growing and putting Fonseca’s instructions in play.
Okafor also played great. Tbh I think he had more take one this game than Leao has had all season.
LOL. They just refuse to give Reijnders a bad rating on here so they put N/A. Ridiculous. He got the red card , it was questionable but he did catch the guys foot with his leg. Also sick of seeing him smile every time he misses the goal entirely from 3 yards away.
Everyone else deserves a good rating rating here. Hard fought, great effort from the guys. Except for Abraham who completely missed on what should have been a goal.
ALso not sure how Okafor gets a better rating than Pulisic??? Must be the American thing .
The team looked really good up until the red. WOuld’ve liked to have seen more 11 v 11.
What is your beef with Reijnders, because I see you complaining week in week out. He was solid till that non existent red card. Get real and stop it. You would probably have had a problem with Serginho, and Ambrosini as well. But you’re not a fan that long. Stick to cricket.
Ok guy. By solid you mean missing the goal entirely from 3 yards out… Again. He did catch the player and it was a foul even if a weak one. Anyone else does that they are not getting a N/A for a rating.
especially if it was done by Theo or Leao
Once your people can play football talk again. Okay poopy
Is Italy going to be playing in the World Cup this time around? I hope so. Sad to see such a dramatic fall from a former football powerhouse.
MOTM could have been either Chuk, Fofana, or Pulisic. Not sure why Puli gets a 6.5 but Okafor gets a 7 for half a game. Okafor did good especially on the goal but he also had a typical Rafa blast!
Win is great..
We still have a lot of the problems..Pavlovic is like a cat chasing a laser pointer on occasions..Rafa has issues, needs to learn to put the team over his personal priorities..did we see Calabaria and the others on the stands leave for the concession stands 4 minutes before halftime?
Whoa. Rafa didn’t play today, and it’s still his fault? UN-BE-LIE-VA-BLE!!!
The hatred that Rafa collects is unreal!!!
What’s more unbelievable is Boulden made a comment all by himself 😂😂
Probably wanted to get down to the dressing room for the half time team talk so they left early
Lovric’s dad nearly cost us the game but we put in a great shift tonight to win with 10 men. Even Thiaw looked good… Fonseca’s No More Mr Nice Guy approach seems to be working 👏.
LMAO 🤣🤣🤣@ Lovric’s dad
One of the worst officiated games I have seen. I don’t know how even with the implementation of VAR technology the refereeing has gotten even worse.
Toure and Lovric made like 20 fouls and they finished the game without a yellow. Toure stepped on Chuk foot, no VAR, no red, not even a yellow.
Milan dominated the game prior to the red card, and even a man down they didn’t really allow Udinese anything. Until the last minute Maignan wasn’t even tested and that was of a ricochet than Udinese actually doing anything.
Great fight by the boys.
Fofana was great, Pulisic ran for 2 people all game long.
I don’t know why Thiaw is the lowest rated defender when he was the best today. He didn’t put a foot wrong.
Pavlovic is too wild and out of control.
Good game by Chuk and Okafor. Morata as always worked hard.
Terracciano and Emerson were decent. Musah, outside of that one situation was very good.
Tammy gotta finish that.
Pulisic is great. Not just goals and assists but great work rate defensively.
Wild game but everything worked out at the end.
Overall fair ratings and considering we was down with 1 man for 2/3 of the match I applaud the team for fighting for eachother throughout the match. I agree with both the disallowed goals so the ref also did some good but he certainly also made some bad choices. The red card for us could be judged as a red one due to Reinders being the last man but it seemed to me that there simply wasn’t enough contact in between the two and also the Udinese player seemed to over exaggerate and fake it but that is from my initial view of it during the match. Udinese should have the player who stomped Chukwuezes foot and even twisting it afterwards thrown out, if that is not a red card then I really don’t know what is.
I always expect our players to show up as warriors and today I’m happy with what I saw even if it got a bit too nervy for my likening it was sort of to be expected due to the red card.
Why did Pulisic get a 6.5 and Okafor a 7 for 45 minutes? Other than that the ratings are ok.
Well I did say “overall” but you do have a point but I nevertheless think Okafor had a pretty great match while he played and we was dominating the match up until the red card. It can be argued that Pulisic maybe had a bigger impact throughout the match but the goal we scored also started from Okafor who passed it to Pulisic who then passed it to Chukwueze. For me Chukwueze was man of the match so hopefully the match will give him some much needed confidence and same goes for Okafor.
because Okafor was the best player in the first half and was unlucky to get subbed off.
I’m not saying Okafor doesn’t deserve a 7. He does. I’m saying if he deserves a 7 doesn’t Pulisic? Pulisic had a great game and worked hard for over 100 minutes.
Because Isak Möller CONSISTENTLY rates Pulisic lower than he deserves while giving much more credit to other players.
It’s not even debatable.
When the player ratings come out from the other Italian sports news outlets, Pulisic’s rating is almost always a half to one full point higher than whatever Isak Möller gave him
Yes, definitely, Isak Möller has shown a consistent bias AGAINST Pulisic.
I think Chuks deserved the man of the man. Considering he not only scored but at different times intercepted passes and also won some fouls for the team that also slowed down the game after we went one man down.
I understand the love for Pulisic and I love him too but he also had a chance in the first half where Chuks was free again but he decided to shoot and missed it.
Overall, the team player better and I’m glad we won without the egocentric Leao and Theo as well. Terraciano also impressed, after the yellow card, he did well to be cautious and that was a mature game from him as he hardly drew any foul after that caution.
Defense was good both Thaiw and Palv did well and Emerson still did good but there is room for growth.
We hope that this win helps us get better in the Champions League.
I missed 1st half.
Happy to see some of the squad players get minutes they need to stay sharp.
Fofana had to do a lot tonight, bravo to him!
I’m surprised Leao did not come on in the last 20 mins, there was acres and acres of space to hit them on the counter, he would have been good at that.
Nice to see a bit of unity and work ethic in the team.
I noticed when Tomori came on, he looked very focused and was paying close attention to his manager (kick up the a55 worked perhaps).
Don’t think it was a good shout to bring on Tomori, we got waay to deep and that goal could have easily stood. I don’t ever agree with inviting them into your box.
Pavlovic plays with heart but wow he is reckless. I’d be starting Thiaw over him for now
Yeah if Thiaw keeps it up I’d go Thiaw and Gabbia.
The problem with Leao though is work rate. I could see why coach didnt want him on. It’s the risk of him not tracking back. I think if they’d got a goal then it might be good to bring him on
Considering we were down a man – any win is a good win. Also nice win considering we rotated some of the squad. Good job lads.
Why we play Teracciano over Jimenez is a mystery – other than one is Italian and the other isn’t. Maybe they also wanna keep his stock down so Real doesn’t buy him back.
Fofana gets better every game. And Pulisic was the MOTM, not Chukuweze.
Take the win against a poor opponent but still much to improve on.
Must win game this week in UCL.
It was a hard fought but Acmilan should not give tomori any chance to feature at all in any match. Now Acmilan need the right players to win match against club Brugge Acmilan must allow Loftus cheek, tomori to feature at all to avoid errors that will lead to goals other players can features in the 4-2-3-1. And pulisic should be featuring steady as the trequartista in the attacking midfield then in the 72nd minutes we sub him to put musah to support in the attacking midfield.
No tomori = clean sheet
Milan’s defense is ridiculous. It is so easy to go through it. Pavlovic is far from the minimum standards. I had the impression he would be a strong defender, but vs Liverpool and tonight (the only games I have watched him play) he was quite bad.
Chuk only shoots the ball. He gives no f about whether it’s right time to shoot or not. He has talent in speed and dribbling, but his tactical awareness and intelligence is quite low. It has been said zillions of time that Tammy needs to learn to shoot the ball properly. Pulisic in attack is quite productive; how far Milan will go this season largely depends on him. Morata is a hard working machine, though he has the weak point of not scoring on a regular basis.
The players keep the ball too much, much of the ball circulation is done without a clear idea on what will the end product will be. Since this issue persisted last season too under Pioli, it is up to debate to what degree it is Fonseca’s tactics to blame on, and to what degree it is lack in quality among the players. What is clear is that Fonseca should not let the defensive line get so high, as it creates opportunities in counterattacks through long balls, like the case of the red card. I don’t see Milan getting more than the 4th place if things are kept like this.
Reijnders’a red card was unfair. The ref can’t give a red so easily.
oK TROLL. They kept a clean sheet while down a man for more than 60 minutes. Terrible defense.
They kept a clean sheet because it was Udinese’s players who could not shoot a simple ball on target.
The defense looked good to me this game (only a handful of grasping chances for the most part), easily as good as anything I’ve seen from inter 🤣 Chuck did so much running and really did well to help keep possession. He took some shots had some good crosses into the box and early on was able to switch the field really effectively.
Inter, it depends on which one. Last season our defense was quite good, way way better than Milan’s. This season though it has been weak and shaky, with errors and bad decisions in almost every game.
On Milan’s defense and Chuk, wait and see the end of the season.
LMAO You clearly did not watch the same game. Nice try, troll. Our defense was probably the best part of the team in this game and working overtime. You clearly have no clue what you’re talking about.
Yooo, attention seeker, how are you? How’s your daddy issue? He give you attention that you’re try to find here yet? I hope it resolved soon.
Haha Me wanting attention from you? lol
Who watches their rivals more than this dude? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 dude should just change his name to Milan fan or Attention seeker. I MIGHT watch Inter-Juve but I’m not cancelling my appointments to do so 😅 No way in h.ell am I watching Inter and a mid table team or team outside top 4….worse yet then go comment on their fans site for attention
You couldn’t put Leao in the last 20 minutes because he refuses to track back, and when you’ve only got 10 players, it could have been disasterous.
I said it before, but these poop eaters keep talking crap, Thiaw is fine, he came from injury last season. Tomori on the other hand, their fellow British crown buddy is a disaster. We should have a ban against poopies supporting our club. The Curva would agree. They should stick to cricket.
To be fair AC Milan started out as Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club 😀
🤦♂️ sigh
Wait til you tell him an Englishman founded the club. He’d lose his sh!t
😀 Yeah one from Nottingham 🙂
I don’t like the fact that the coach still hasn’t figured out his 1st 11. Rotating is one thing, experimenting quite another. Puli would be my MOTM. He really sacrificed himself. Love Morata’s energy as well. Our back 4 need to settle and for that the coach is fully accountable
Fofana 7 🤣🤣🤣
Literally 0 ground and arial duels win, far the worst player on the pitch.
What? You must be trolling. Fofana, the worst player on the pitch? More like, co-MOTM with Pulisic with Chuk a close third.
Chuk haters pretty quiet today…
They are still giving the MOTM to Pulisic, they are real haters.
While not a hater I have been super critical of him and wouldn’t be sad to see him go and Saelmakers stay.
This game however he was MOTM. Not just for the goal. He played a complete game.
If he is gonna defend and hussle like that, then I’m keen to see more Ok4/Leao , Puli, Chuk
I am so sick watching negative comments all the time. Milan literally dominated the game first 30 minutes in every aspect of the game. We deserved this win. Rules are rules (offside).
That first 30 min was downright exciting. We clearly had a plan and were executing as a team.
I could see us playing with Tammy at 9 or Leao at LW with the same outcome.
My only concerns about that line up was Terraciano. He seem d pretty Shakey with passing. Pav was reckless.
But I believe we saw a viable rotation today. Something we’ve been missing the past couple of years.
Sad to say, but Tammy injury is probably a blessing as the clown will have to play Jovic now. And jovic actually knows how to put those chances away
Yeah, I’m pretty sure Jovic knows how to score from six inches away from the goal, unlike Abraham
Tasted the 3 points at the end then they took it away by that goal. Then VAR gave it back lol. I’m so thankful that Udinese players’ armpit and toes were big so we got those hairline calls right. Puli is my motm, dude was just everywhere. Holy moly what a game..what a phenomenal work rate. Credit to where credit is due, Musah put in a shift. Pav was shaky all game but got over the line. Thiaw was quiet but effective. So I’ll chew my words there. The boys all put in a shift. Beautiful 3 points though, we worked hard for it. The calls were so bad but we got it in the end. These are the kind of 3 points that can galvanize a team.
Super duper happy with the win 😁😁😁
Yes, Pavlovic has potential and all the physical tools you would want but he’s always walking the line between aggressive and reckless and often crosses over. Like a speeding train you feel is about to go off the tracks. Some good coaching could turn him into a monster defender. If he can be taught.
Maybe it’s because I grew up watching hockey but the fact that somebody can get grazed and follow over like they’ve been shot is crazy to me. I’ve seen guys get punched in the dome and still be standing
Great to get the win, we needed it. We were dominating until the unfortunate sending off but we held strong something I haven’t seen Milan do for several seasons.
Pulisic was our most involved attacker and set Chukwueze up nicely and had several dangerous moments. Okafor got by his man to set the stage for the goal and Chukwueze took his chance and made the most of it.
The defense did enough but Udinese was unlucky on two occasions but so was the red card and the non red when Chukwueze had his foot demolished by that Goliath of a human.
Not sure how to feel about Fonseca. Not sure why Leao was left on the bench the full 90 but he played our two in the dog house and lhe eft Pulisic on for 97+ minutes.
Interesting to see what happens at mind week.
I think the moment Reinjders was sent off, we weren’t gonna see Leao.
It’s not that he doesn’t track back it’s that even when he does he is not effective. With 10 men and the lead we needed more spine, less flash.
WOW, way way way way too generous.
And Puli MotM.
I had to cover my eyes at the end there. Drama and nerve racking. But we were down to 10 men, and still fought like warriors.
Better mentality. And that was definitely not a red card at all.
A well deserved 3 points, my hats off for the boys tonight. They really gave it their all from the start to the final whistle. Take home for me:
Pulisic would thrive as our AMF than tij or morata dropping behind Abraham. He can find those spaces way better and he is everywhere.
Our high is good only when our CBs are playing with positional awareness. For me, the red happened because the defense was beat hence tij ending with a red that is unfair while trying to cover for the defense.
Chuks did surprised me, he was good offensively and defensively.
It’s safe to say that the first 30mins shows what Fonseca can offer and I loved the rotation.
Italian serie A officiating is a bunch of jokes,the referee was very poor deciding to overlook a clear foul on chukwueze which should have been a red card also, Abraham hurt himself when he clearly lacked a simple composure to score right in the six yard box,I still don’t believe a professional player cannot score a simple goal with lots of missed chances every game, happy for the 3 points anyway
Forza Milan
Good win for the boys.
Especially a hard fought one. And Pulisic again. Oooo man has been a revelation just beautiful to watch.
Mos Def MOTM by a clear margin.
For me, it’s hard to know who the MOTM was: Fofana, Pulisic, or Chuk? I’d probably give it to Fofana who was simply immense today. He is turning into a huge asset for us, making me for the first time in years, not miss Kessié. But Puli was pretty close to being the MOTM himself, with a fabulous assist and his usual phenomenal work ethics; he was all over the pitch, helping everybody. Maybe we should say, both Fofana and Puli were co-MOTM. Chuk was creative and did score the winner so he merits great praise too; had his best game for Milan in months.
Reijnders was also very creative and absolutely did not deserve that red. I frankly don’t even think he touched that diver. If he did, it was the slightest thing in the world and rather than a red for Tijani, that guy should have collected a yellow for simulation. For a ref to punish that with a red and ignore a guy who stepped on Chuk’s foot then stepped again on his ankle and twisted his studs (whoa, that’s a straight red!), and ignore two nasty elbows, and push the game to 112 minutes… unbelievable. That was criminal. Italian refs are getting worse and worse, and this ref almost cost us the 3 points tonight.
Morata worked hard; Okafor while he was on the pitch did very well too and built up the goal.
I thought that Thiaw redeemed himself from the first game of the season by having a rather flawless performance, and this, while coming back from injury. Bravo.
I don’t agree with the rating given to Terracciano, though. I thought that he was nowhere to be seen in the play that made Reijnders have to track back, resulting in his unfair red. I’d deduct half a point for that; 5.5 seems right.
Even Emerson did well tonight for the most part although he lost some duels. Pavlovic was actually very good. I don’t understand comments that he was a headless chicken. Look at his stats: 7 duels won, 4 clearances, 91% pass accuracy, 2 chances created.
Nice to see Mike as the captain and he played well.
Morata worked hard as usual and could have had a goal with slightly better finishing on that header.
Abraham missed another sitter and got injured in the process. Terrible.
Musah made a big mistake but otherwise was decent.
RLC and Tomori played just a few minutes but not particularly well.
Fonseca did keep things together and made subs to try to beef up the defensive actions given that we were a man down. He should be praised.
For Udinese, the MOTM was the ref. Not only the ref made terrible decisions that mostly favored them, but he also pushed the game to 112 minutes which was quite preposterous. I’m glad that the ref couldn’t prevent our victory. The two disallowed goals were the work of VAR, not of the ref. And the alleged handball not called on Pavlovic, his hand was really next to his body; such a handball isn’t to be called by rule, so that’s not the ref’s merit either. Overall this ref was just terrible.
The first 30 minutes, Milan were gorgeous. The rest of the match, one man down, they were heroic. Great win, given the circumstances.
I wish we signed Fofana sooner. What a monster in midfield. Anyone talking bad about him is clueless.
We committed 3 fouls. They committed 13. Still, other than one tactical foul, the other two yellows they got were for dissent (ref has a big ego). Two elbows and one criminal stepping on Chuk’s ankle, not even a yellow from this horrible ref.
The referee needs to be suspended after this game.
Good win and with heavily rotated squad at the back as well. They imposed themselves in first 30 minutes and played what Fonzi is expecting from them. Kudos to trio of Okafor, Puli and Chuk. They combined well and hopefully that’s something that will wake up Leao.
But defensively they’re still fragile and unorganized starting from the midfield down. When you have Reijnders as the last man on the line chasing down to stop potential goal then something is not clicking. And that red card was on Pavlović who was caught out of position. Although we had Terracciano on the field, Udinese kept on attacking from their left and Emerson got again beaten on many occasions as well as caught out of position. Again most of the battles were lost already in the middle. Fofana was good and is getting better but he’s one man only and can’t expect him to do all the work himself.
Chuk needs the encouragement and faith. Give him MOTM. He’ll be better going forward.
He also should have drawn a red when he was stomped on. Bad ref.
Forza Milan! Very good game aftee all the bad luck against fiorentina we finally got some with us ❤🖤❤🖤
What I saw was a team. They played for each other. It wasn’t perfect but it was a big step in the right direction.
Bummer that we had to subtract Theo and Leao to see it. I hope we can add Leao in UCL and still see the same workrate and grinta.
Chuk, whom I have harshly criticized many times, was MOTM today. Puli showed his form is hot and his work rate continues to be amazing. Fofana has won me over.
For me, however the revelation of the game was OK4 on the left. Twice before the goal sequence ran out of being held (both should have been fouls or yellows). He was relentless but lacked the finish. I truly hope to see him frequently on the left and Leao get some rest.
I don’t think Terraciano is our answer at LB. Maybe he grows into it, but he reminds me a bit of pre-Spain Gabbia.
I did think Musah added to our defensive posture nicely when he came on. Hope he got a smack for that arrogant dribble attempt tho. He seems to be the closest thing we have to Fofana deputy.
Watched ManU before Milan today. Morata sure looks like a better buy than Zirkzee at this point.
What a team win, Fofana was near perfect. Almost forgot thiaw and Terra were playing midway through, which is a good thing. So happy for Chuck, he’s been my underdog fav since we signed him and today was the first time he seemed to play with controlled enthusiasm. His problem mainly has been his tranquility (or lack of) he almost wants it too much. He seemed to channel morata or pulisic and if he can continue like that, he can def play a lot more. That’s some of the worst ref work you’ll see all year. Bc of the ref, multiple people almost suffered severe injury and a red card was given. He didn’t establish any kind of consistent authority on the pitch. Ref hurt milan way more than udinese did.