It was a disappointing evening for AC Milan as they failed to break down a resilient Cremonese. The game ended 0-0 and there were several poor performances within the team, with the player ratings below.
Starting XI
Tatarusanu (6): He did his job, even though he wasn’t forced into action that many times in terms of saving. His distribution was good though overall.
Thiaw (6): Promising first start for the German with many duels won and also some pace shown off this evening. He had a good header on a corner which forced the goalkeeper to a save as well.
Kjaer (5.5): He sometimes lacked a bit of pace in the duels (and got lucky with the players slipping) and he never even once sent the ball long (it seemed), even though he’s quite good at that and Milan could have used it.
Tomori (6.5): Milan’s best player on the pitch along with Bennacer, winning back the ball many times and pushing forward when no one else was.
Ballo-Toure (5): Non-existent in attack and when he did get on the ball, he simply was a threat at all to the Cremonese defence. Okay in defence, but Milan need more from their left-back in attack (especially since he was a wing-back tonight).
Bennacer (6.5): He was one of the few that actually created space for Milan and kept the tempo up, when no one else did it. He was behind almost everything and it was a shame his teammates didn’t do more.
Tonali (6): Hard-fought performance in the midfield with some good passing in tight situations. Also some good deliveries on the corners, but ultimately it was just a pass for him.
Messias (6): He also tried to create chances and managed to beat his man several times. Had a good cross for Diaz in the first half and also fired away a strong shot himself. Too lonely out there, though, most of the time.
Diaz (5): He’s so frustrating to watch because he’s able to get past two or sometimes even three defenders with ease but then just fails with a simple pass or shot. So while he helped create chances, he was partly responsible for Milan not putting any of them away.
Rebic (5.5): Improved in the second half with a nice touch and go here and there but the first half was really poor.
Origi (5): Dropped down a few times but just couldn’t create anything once he got close to goal. His strike was ruled out for a clear offside by VAR and his impact wasn’t enough, clearly.
Substitutes
Leao (5.5): It probably wasn’t the best of times for him to enter the field as Cremonese just sat back and his Milan teammates were frustrated/lacking energy. So there was no space really for him to work with.
Kalulu (6): Added another dimension, replacing Thiaw, as he was able to drive forward and give Milan a better chance of sending in crosses (which ended up being the case).
De Ketelaere (5): Another tough evening exemplified by his slip when he, for once, did well to get into a good position.
Krunic (N/A): He didn’t play enough to get a rating.
Lazetic (N/A): He didn’t play enough to get a rating, but looked promising the little we saw.
