AC Milan sealed their spot in the Coppa Italia final after a rather unexpected 3-0 trashing of Inter in the semi-final second leg. Luka Jovic was the big hero with a brace and below are the player 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 (7): Truth be told, while Inter had the ball in Milan’s half a lot in the first half, the goalkeeper wasn’t tested that much. He made one good save on Dimarco (offside anyway), and then he was saved by the crossbar. The big save came in the second half, a low reflex save on De Vrij which was fantastic, and prevented Inter from gaining momentum.
Tomori (7): The Englishman continued his good form tonight with several clearances and balls intercepted. It was a great pass in the build-up of the third goal as well and throughout the game, he made sure to push up when needed without too much aggression (dare I say it looked like the old Fikayo?).
Gabbia (7): It was a shame that he had to come off early (due to neck discomfort) because up until that point, he had done very well. Yes, he pushed up too high on a couple of occasions, but in the decisive moments – crosses, shots blocked etc – then he did everything right. It was a crucial defensive header that got him subbed off, after all.
Pavlovic (6.5): His control of the ball let him down a bit in the first half, and the positioning wasn’t always great, but for most of the game he got the job done (well too). It wasn’t always pretty, but that matters little in a game like this. The second half was especially strong from him.
Jimenez (7.5): Even before the first goal, which he set up with a wonderful cross for Jovic, he had multiple great combinations and runs forward, while also winning the ball back often. Defensively he made a mistake once, when Dimarco got through, but otherwise he was sound. Also, the pass in the build-up of the first goal (watch it back) was great.
Fofana (6): There’s no denying that he’s a great asset when Milan are just about to start the counters, with his calm passing, but he could have done a bit more on all fronts tonight. Defensively he didn’t always track back as desired, which is also why Inter found certain spaces more than once. He did show some skill at the end, but it’s nothing more than an average display.
Reijnders (7.5): The goal aside, which came after a great run into the box, his quick passing and ability to glide forward with the ball were crucial today. He showed some great skill throughout the game, such as before the first goal, and sent Calhanoglu into the stands once. He also had some good interceptions in defence which was very nice to see.
Hernandez (7): He’s a bit tough to rate, at least in my opinion, as everything he did in attack seemed so effortless. In a good way, of course, but you also get the feeling that he could have put some of that into the defending. Nevertheless, he used his strengths and was involved in all three goals: assist for the second and big hand in build-up of the others.
Pulisic (6): It was a rather tough first half for the No.11 as he couldn’t get the touches quite right, while also struggling in the 1v1 duels. That being said, the second half was much better as he managed to get involved and find space between the lines. Still, nothing more than a pass here.
Jovic (8.5 – MOTM): Absolutely brilliant from start to finish. The header to break the deadlock was fantastic, as was his positioning in the box, and the latter also proved crucial on the second goal. Aside from the goals, though, he also combined so well with his teammates and was incredibly calm on the ball, which helped massively. Massive kudos, Luka.
Leao (6): More or less everything went wrong for him in the first half, not getting the touches right in attack, while tracking back too late in defence. He had space to do more and although we saw similar things in the second half, it was still better than the first 45 and the assist attested to that.
Substitutes
Thiaw (N/A): Given he was the first player to come on, it sounds strange to say but I actually don’t feel like we saw enough to give him a rating. Inter just didn’t have that many dangerous chances which involved him.
Abraham (6): He was involved in the third goal and was almost always available towards the end of the game, which obviously helped.
Loftus-Cheek (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating, even if he looked promising on a few occasions.
Joao Felix (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating
Bartesaghi (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating
I have zero complaints with this match. For the first 30 min it seemed we were going to get steamrolled, but then we scored first and it was all downhill from there. Huge props to Mike for keeping the score 2-0 with that incredible reflex save. If Inter had scored there they may have gotten back into the match. Well done team!
Jovic was next level today. I had to double check to make sure it was really Jovic playing. If he keeps this form you have to keep him along with Santi and send Tammy back.
343 is a decent shape so far. 1 goal conceded in 3 games.
Luka’s link up play today was surreal.
1 goal conceded and 7 goals scored
Again, Isak shows his favouritism. Even after a good game he cant give pavlo and fofana a deserved rating. Did we watch the same game? IMO tomori 6,5 and pavlo 7. Pavlo was essential. Fofana also did Great this game, in both phases. 7. Guess we have to(again) wait for the Gazzetta ratings for a valid score. Anyway, Great game by the lads.
Pavlos ball touch makes me slap my forehead time and time again. He looks like a bull running around basically. But yeah he has his merits too. He wasn’t all bad and definately not all good either. Tomori was really solid today. Just one mistake that I can remember.
Agreed.
Of the three CBs, Tomori stood out the most defensively.
Pavlovic has his moments bombing up, but that’s not his job most of the time. I can understand when he’s in the opponent box on a set piece, but during the match, some of his runs upwards were unnecessary and potentially dangerous if we’d lost the ball. Speed is not in his toolkit, and when he gets caught out (like vs Atalanta), it makes him look really bad.
“Speed is not in his toolkit”
REALLY??? Based on the official UEFA stats, he was the 2nd or 4th (can’t remember which) fastest CB in this year’s competition. So, if speed isn’t in his toolkit, you can scratch that from every CB in the world then. Also, the official stats say he has ran only 0.2 km/h slower than Theo. I guess speed isn’t in Theo’s toolkit then either.
Then explain how come both Pavlovic and Gabbia could not get back in time against Atalanta when Lookman went on his run after Tomori was taken off? Theo had to bomb back to save us from getting scored on again.
Gabbia? He has nothing to do with Pavlovic’s pace. Pavlo was so far out even Leao couldn’t have managed to get there in time (not that he would ever had even tried to…)
And you do know that the ball is the fastest one on the pitch? Atalanta played two great balls forward and not even Usain Bolt at his prime would have been able to beat the ball.
Yeah you’re right. I was concerned earlier in the season that Pavlo might be slow, but he is actually pretty fast, especially for a CB. Not fast like Tomori but certainly top 25% of CBs
Yup Fofana played one of his best games in Milan today. So many balls recovered by him, breaking many Inter attacks. Linking up well with both the back and front line. And even gave us glimpse of his individual skill with confidence.
Agreed, Fofana was the core midfielder & allowed the team to shine… but players like Fofana always get criticised first on this site. Only a perfection would get him a 7 rating.
I’m starting to think either Inzaghi had material to blackmail Pioli in the past or Ibrahimović since this summer found material to blackmail Inzaghi and gave it to Fonseca and then Conceição.
It’s one thing to win a derby while being 9th, but to win 3 out of 5 and remain undefeated and winning the last one 3-0 in front on their crowd, that’s something…
Inter lost 2 titles already thanks to us and “if” they lose the scudetto, the 2 derbies will be something they regret, so if we’re going down, let’s at least take them with us shall we ?
We looked shy and mostly on the backfoot in the first half especially Leão being disastrous against Bisseck and Pulišić was outmuscled and only Maignan saved us while Jiménez and Jović stepped up late to score.
We took the offensive in the second half and everyone looked better especially Jović who is showing great playmaking abilities and Reijnders whose dribbling disturbed inter’s play and of course the late goal to seal the deal.
Tomorrow we will know who will face us in the final and funnily enough I think it’s going to be more difficult than this derby.
My prediction yesterday was:
1. Milan would win tonight
2. Bologna will win Coppa Italia
Somehow Milan this season rise to the occassion whenever there is a game vs Inter. It was a well-played game and a deserved win.
This match had me thinking of The Simpsons episode Whacking Day where all the people from Springfield celebrates whacking snakes to abolish them from town.
Kidding aside great performance today, at least the second half was pretty awesome. The match probably could have gone differently had Inter scored on their chance hitting the crossbar in the first half still at 0-0 but considering we were massive underdogs today this is an immense victory. It leaves some questions though why can’t we perform consistently through out the entire season.
Kudos for allowing me to pluck the Whacking Day song from somewhere in the back of my brain.
I was about to post it but thought I’d like to still be allowed posting football clips here from time to time and didn’t wanna jeopardize it, great Snake Whacking Day song though and a great old episode when it was still a fun watch, don’t forget Homer whacking snakes ninja style as well 😀
Great win! We tend to do well in open games but there were some big positives tonight in terms of the bigger picture. The coach may get to keep his job after all, not because of the result, but for sticking to his new system for the third game in a row (despite losing to Atalanta) and picking players based on merit.
You need to earn your place here. I understand asking more of Mike, Theo, and Leao but they deserve to stay over 90% of the team so I don’t want to hear any talk of selling them with Chukwueze, Felix, Loftus-Cheek, Musah, Walker, Sottil, Bondo…etc. yet to do anything for AC Milan.
I’m very happy for Jovic and it’s a testament to his hard work and patience. Unfortunately, it is also another indictment on the management who signed three strikers this season, only for the back-up striker they panic bought last year to start. How can we trust these people to spend money wisely?
A special mention to Reijnders, a player that didn’t impress me last season but has been working hard, keeping a good attitude, not listening to the excessive praise from the media, continues to improve, and is becoming very impactful.
Finally, Pulisic is a model of hard work and seems to always give his all for the team, not to mention his footballing skills. It is a pleasure to see such spirit consistently.
The players and the coach should be very proud of themselves tonight.
It somehow feels like if we had to play Inter 38 times in Serie A and no other team, we wouldn’t be in 9th place.
Pioli entered the chat.
Yes, it feels like Inter are the only opponent we consider serious. Now we are becoming Bologna, who play like their only goal is to make Inter’s life harder.
This Milan is a fantastic team when they play Inter and Real.
Lol
Agree. 1 goal conceded in 3 games.
I have to give it to Conce for starting the game with Jovic. He was second to none, brilliant display. Great team work all round, clean sheet…for once let me tip my forehead to the Rossoneri this season and bask in the glorious display…Forza Milan.
Jovic… The stone that the builders rejected
Jovic has always been outstanding in the link up play, he is almost a n10. However physically he has always struggle to also attack depth and be present in the box. The question is only his physical condition long term.
Great night for beleaguered supporters!
Always enjoyable to watch a 3-0.
Jovic was superb, bravo to him, he has been treated poorly and clearly wants to prove himself!
His hold up play was brilliant
Tiji, what a special player he is. We need to keep hold of special players and that may even include Rafa/Theo.
Rafa/Puli were mostly poor. We need a good young winger to compete with them and relieve them.
Pavlovic shows heart but positionally is a liability, dare I say he is the poor mans Calafiori.
Alex is a little gem.
Great save Mike.
We must acknowledge that Inter could easily have been 2 goals up early on. We were very poor for 30 mins and rode our luck. Inter look exhausted and that made a big difference.
Forza Milan!
And just like that Jovic dismantles inter’s treble in 15 min 😂. Overall I was really impressed with Jimenez and the whole defence – even Tomori… Who cares that we’re going to lose against Venezia on Sunday morning – let’s enjoy this for now and bring back the cup. inter meanwhile will probably end up with jack sh*t 🙌
I’ve always said Jović was a proper player/Striker. The dude sits on the bench for too many games and still bring professionalism every time he’s called upon. Unlike 2 other players during a certain water break. lol.
The only credit I’ll always give Conceicao is the fact he trusted Jovic and has been giving him proper chances and not the type Pioli claimed he gave him. Aside from that, I’m glad we won and seems we should tag every team we play the rest of the season as “INTER” so our players can wake up. The tactics wasn’t proper and won’t work against teams that don’t play open play like Inter does. But I’ll rejoice tonight but still believe we need a proper coach.
While Jović definitely deserved motm, I have to say that Jimenez could’ve taken it as well. This was by far his best performance for us. If he improves his technique, he can become a real beast on the right.
If there is anything positive about this season, it is that Milan isn’t Inter’s biatch anymore. 5 games, 3 wins, while outplaying inter for 75% of the time.
Maybe even end up the season with 2 trophies.
1 more meaningful game left.
And even the two draws… We were very close to winning them. Could have easily been 5 out of 5.
So the the final is currently schedule for Wednesday 14 May. Guess who we’re playing the weekend before?
hmm let me guess… the likely opponent in the final?
I always say this and will say it again that IF THIS MILAN TEAM DECIDES TO COME TO THE PARTY, THEY ARE ALMOST UNSTOPPABLE. It’s not all about the formation but their determination, zeal and desire.
Ik
Again another solid performance in the 343.
Today the attack was able to combine better and take advantage of moments. Something they couldn’t do on the weekend.
Rafa looks like he needs a rest.
He should not start v Venezia. Possibly should rest Pulisic too.
Tears on Inter fans faces will never get old. Seeing them pour out of the stadium before the game was over brings indescribable joy to my heart 😁 and then hearing our section of fans being the loudest as the “away” team….. pure happiness.
Beating Inter will always be a favorite pastime of mine haha. Don’t care about our standings in the league lol 😂. Well done boys. Can go into individual players but maybe a different time
I’m happy this new system enables us to control the midfield and thus control the game but, I have to admit that I’m very concerned that this system neutralizes Pulisic. It’s obvious that the system is tailored to go through Theo, Leao and the strikers. Correct me if I’m wrong but it seems he is tasked with too many defensive responsibilities and ends up outside of the 6 yard box too much. His brilliant, positional instinct, and quick decisive movements inside the 6 yard box is his forte. If you’re not getting Pulisic inside the 18 yard line you’re not optimizing his talents. It seems he’s more involved in deep midfield link-up play now and very rarely a part of the tip of the spear in the attack. Even though he’s one of the best in the world on the half-turn counterattack I still feel the system is making him sacrifice too much and doesn’t put him in positions that maximize his talent. It’s painful to watch how mediocre he is in this system.
I’m not as concerned. I’m really pleased with how the 3-4-3 is going. I think he will figure it out and I’d especially like to see him over on the left more. He played a lot of 3-4-3 under Tuchel the year Chelsea won the Champion’s League title and did pretty well, really carrying the team against Real Madrid in the semifinals. He will still get his chances, but he will also probably get hacked down more and get injured more, playing in more crowded areas of midfield. The key for the two inside forwards on attack in the 3-4-3 is how they work with the 9. There are opportunities, but they rely on being very precise.
Yes, he has to do more defensive work in the 3-4-3, that’s part of the deal, but he does pretty well with it and it’s part of why I think the formation works.
The linchpin here is how Leao does with his defensive responsibilities on the left in this shape. It’s very much up and down so far. Teams have taken some advantage, but I expect teams to focus on him going forward. Leao also needs to figure out his offense, but I’m not as concerned about that – he’s a gifted attacker who is still working with Theo to his left.
As always, disagree with most of the ratings. It’s like they are written by someone who doesn’t actually know the sport at all.
If Conceicao could win Coppa Italia, that would be crazy. He will do more cup in just half year, more than what Pioli won after 5 years.
And with that, we should give him another season. To start from pre season, that could make all the difference in the world.
Yeah, we remember Fonseca won all preseason games against big teams. And where is he now.
If they win the Coppa Italia and they keep progressing in these last few games and the squad is behind him I would keep Conceicao. That would be 2 trophies(albeit the lesser two). Give him an off season of work with the players. Tired of teams constantly changing coaches. They should have kept Fonseca until the end of the season.
Jovic is awesome.
He looks like Ivar the boneless actor from vikings.
First half was again disaster, it has to be said. But the second half was completely different and that’s the football I want to see them play. Fast paced, counter attacking and dominant.
Jovic again coming to the rescue as he did many times last season. Shut our managment clowns up who did him d*rty and wanted to make a quick buck off him last summer. Now extend him or watch him go to Inter for free.
In my opinion we should stick with Jović and Gimenez up front and add playmakers to our team, players who will actually provide them with proper balls inside the box. Cause that’s what Jović and Gimenez both are, tap in kil*ers.
Personally thought Maignan was MotM but we really should be honest about this game. Inter dominated it and we were completely at their mercy for most of it, only spared by them repeatedly fluffing their lines in front of goal. Yes Jovic is doing great and his chance conversion rate is unnaturally high at the moment (and if he has any sense about him he’ll find a new club in summer) but as a team we were so easily exposed down both flanks.
Better to be lucky than good…. at least in the short term. Enjoyed it, will take it and good to see us ruining Inter’s night again, but I don’t think we’ve turned a corner by any means.
It seems strange that very few have credited the coach for this win, had it been a loss we would have had enough calls for the sacking of the coach. Some of us still believe that the players should carry more blame than Conceicao for a poor season. We also clearly see Conceicao trying new methods to get the boys performing, while I am happy that we get a chance for Europa league new season, changing coach again may be counter productive with these set of players.
After the 4-0 win over Udinese and the wild excitement over the new formation, and people calling for Serge to be kept on for next year, I said:
“Let’s wait and see how it goes against Atalanta and Inter and the rest of the season. With 4 more wins, I’ll agree.”
After the Atlanta loss everyone was again calling for Serge’s head.
Now we’ve beaten Inter 3-0 and are 7 goals for, 1 against in 3 matches.
Still, that’s just one more win. We need three more wins this season. It we beat Bologna in the Cup final and win two more league games, I think we’d be foolish to let Serge go.