AC Milan have shown in the last couple of games that they have precious resources able to come off the bench and change the course of games.
After the victory in the capital against Lazio, Stefano Pioli decided to keep the same starting XI for the game at San Siro against Fiorentina, and once again there were certain struggles in the attack as Junior Messias and Brahim Diaz struggled to affect the game with quality.
MilanNews write how it was the 56th minute when Pioli made the first changes as Brahim and Messias made way for Rade Krunic and Ante Rebic, and the game changed. The Rossoneri played more instinctively, with the two substitutes always in the midst of the attacking moves.
The Croatian took advantage of his 35+ minutes and was a thorn in the side for Martinez Quarta with his fight and determination, while the Bosnian provided the physicality and pressure that was missing from Brahim.
While Olivier Giroud cannot be criticised for the great work he did in the non-possession phase, he just did not seem that sharp when Milan had the ball and missed a huge chance in the first half, which is why in the 67th minute he came off for Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Swede is not at 100%, but the spirit of sacrifice never fails and he used his tactical intelligence to slow down the build-up just as he did in the Lazio game before the winning goal. He was the man who pressed Terracciano and then the Fiorentina keeper gave it to Leao who scored, sealing three huge points. In short, the subs made the difference again.
Yes, they did, but we survived due to that abnormal save from Super Mike! I’m still thinking of how that didn’t go in! Could there be a spirit at the goal post?! We are lucky we’ve got him!❤️🖤
Agreed. Hweva we were wasteful n shud hv scored 3ice b4 then
Sometimes you need to use brute-force to shut opponents down. That’s why I like Rebic. He has muscles and aggression. And it helped us a lot.