Lazio 1 v 2 AC Milan

 

I have always enjoyed Lazio- Milan matches as it’s often an open game and normally falls into Milan’s favour of late.

Lazio start vibrantly, continually attacking down the right hand side of the pitch.This resulted in a mental lapse early on in the Milan defence and Immobile was able to slot one into the back of the net amongst the early brainfade.

 Milan grew in the game but Lazio were able to absorb pressure before attacking down the centre with quick paced dangerous movements. Milan attacked relentlessly just before half time with Giroud a constant threat all match with his runs and his close effort shots. 

 

 

Early in the second half, Milan’s attacks down the left hand side resulted in Leao providing an assist for Giroud to slot home Milan continued their dominance seeking the final finish. Tonali had taken control of the midfield with his relentless hounding of Lazios ball winners resulting in turn overs and causing Lazio to take a more conservative approach at times.Leao played one of his most consistent matches, continually providing an option and working well together with Theo to try and find space behind Lazio’s defence. Lazio however on the other hand gave as good as they got with the last ten minutes both teams went for blood.

Zlatan had entered the foray late into the game proved decisive as he prevented a clearance from a Lazio defence  with a header straight into the path of Tonali who scored in the final few minutes of the game.

 

 

Player Ratings

3- Tonali
2-Leao
1-Giroud

AC Milan 2 v 0 Genoa

 

Apologies for the delay in the post everyone, I was unable to watch the match until recently.

The match from the onset was unusual compared to the normal lower table teams parking the bus ,Genoa implemented a more open attacking style which allow them more attacking opportunities but emboldened Milan to take on an offensive initiative and they would play through the wings looking for a strike in the box. This would result in Kalulu crossing magnificently and finding Leao who sent in a goal. Milan managed to take control for the remainder of the half and fell short on their attacking opportunities.

 

 

Genoa started the second have off well taking control of the game this was short-lived however for the opening ten minutes of the second half.Milan were able to wrestle control of the match with Bennacer,Tonali and Kessi proving pivotal in controlling the match. Gabbia coming off injured highlighted a season long issue of injuries plaguing the Milan side. Salaemakers who had tried a lot but proved unsuccessful came off for Messias Jnr who proved how much more clinical he was , putting himself in better positions from the get go and was able to slot home the second.

Mike saved the clean sheet at the final few minutes of the game with an excellent save after a header from Genoa. The win puts Milan in a much better position currently first in the league though Inter has a game in hand and only two points behind.

 

Player Ratings

3. Maignan

2.Kalulu

1.Bennacer

Diaz Problem

 

Early into the season , Brahim Diaz started his Milan career on fire. In games against Empoli, Spezia he created goals whilst against Athletico Madrid at the San Siro he was the most offensive player in the Milan line up, constantly dribbling through multiple players and only a goal away from being the man of the match.

It was after his return from COVID-19 that he has slowly lost his good form and has been unable to recapture it. This includes when Pioli keeps faith with playing him on the field and unleashing him from the bench, Brahim has been unable to achieve his previous good form.

He has played only a handful of good games since his return and has not been in the best three for Milan in any match since.  He does have an amazing ability to dribble through players but it has been seen on to often an occasion that he gets out muscled or he is unable to connect with a team mate .

 

Pioli has done as much as he can to get Brahim back into form including playing him on the right wing which often results in Diaz becoming lost and having minimal time on the ball.

Brahim could be an excellent player but he requires extensive training on his final touch to help create more assists and goals for Milan whom are currently on a run of 4 games with only a maximum of 1 goal in any of them, not good enough for prospective title winners. The frustration is often exasperated  due to how easily he has been pushed off the ball at times and I do think people don't notice his tenacious pressing at times when he tries to win the ball back in Milan's forward half.

 

 

 

Though it has been disappointing to see his slump , he did show some quality characteristics early in the season and AC Milan should commit to him being in the squad as long as his not relied solely upon as the number 10.

 

 

Torino 0 v 0 AC Milan

Milan has travelled well this season often being able to beat their opponents. Torino played excellently as a host and were incredibly challenging to  Milan able to hold their own as both team had many chances to score however neither could take advantage of these.

Torino actually looked more threatening in the closing of the match with more effective chances than Milan who seemed to tire and slow down towards the end. Milan did have more of the possession during the match though both teams had 14 shots with only three each on target.

The Milan defence were very solid throughout the match, ensuring no easy shots were taken with Belotti’s majority of chances being ineffective and Mike ensuring with a save of the match we did not lose three points to a loss. Diaz ,Salaemakers, Messias Jnr were all poor offensively unable to take their chances or create any to others.

Milan do have a problem coming up in the tail end of the season with threatening teams of Sassuolo, Fiorentina, Verona and Atalanta to stand in the way of their Serie A title challenge.

Player Ratings

3- Maignan

2- Tomori

1. Kalulu

AC Milan 0 v 0 Bologna

 

Sadly for this match I could only watch the second half due to personal reasons.

AC Milan suffered the Italian problem dominating Bologna and raining more than 30 shots upon them for it to result in nothing. Despite the attacking movements much of it was very uninspired with a lot of reliance upon Leao,Rebic, Giroud and Ibrahimovic, with the latter two exceedingly wasteful.

 

Scoring has been a problem for AC Milan recently with the last three victories coming at 3 nil despite the match dominance in each of these. This came back to haunt Milan with Bologna who had also not scored since February both threatened with chances of their own.

Much of Milan’s team were not bad, but not particularly good evident by Brahim Diaz impact on the game as he often was trying create a chance but ultimately failed to have any impact on the game.  Rebic  and Theo also tried to create chances with enthuasitic support runs, pressing however ultimately their touches left a quality lacking.

 

The result leaves AC Milan with only a point cushion with some difficult matches towards the tail end of the season against Lazio, Fiorentina, Sassuolo and Atalanta .

Player Ratings
3. Tomori
2.Kalulu
1.Theo