Player Ratings: Milan Fall to Bologna in First Game of the New Year

How did Milan's stars fare in a painful 1-0 loss to Bologna on Wednesday? It wasn't the most enjoyable of matches for Milanistas, but did anyone stand out -- er, stand out in a good way, that is?

Gianluigi Donnarumma: 6.5

The young keeper had no chance on Emanuele Giaccherini's goal, and made a couple of important saves to deny Mattia Destro in the second half.  Donnarumma could not be faulted for his performance on this day.

Mattia De Sciglio: 5.5

A solid if unspectacular night from De Sciglio.  Offensively he combined fairly well with Giacomo Bonavetura, and won a few corners as his dangerous crosses were cleared away.  On the other side of the ball De Sciglio did not stand out one way or the other.  He made a few nice tackles and no glaring mistakes.  All in all a rather uneventful performance.

Philippe Mexes: 5

As usual, the Frechman was enigmatic and inconsistent over the course of 90 minutes as he cemented the fact that he simply can't be trusted to properly do his job for 90 minutes.  Despite making two or three heroic tackles to thwart Bologna's attack, Mexes failed to connect a simple pass to his partner that almost cost Milan a goal, and late in the second half could have been sent off for a ridiculous and unnecessary slide tackle that stemmed from frustration.

Alex: 5

Like his partner, Alex had his good and bad moments throughout the match.  In the first half Alex made a miracle tackle to deny Bologna's attacker an open goal after an impressive Donnarumma save, but  the chance was caused by Alex playing two attackers onside.  The Brazilian clearly missed his regular partner Alessio Romagnoli who missed the match due to suspension.

Ignazio Abate: 4

A horrendous match for the veteran fullback.  As per usual Abate's crosses were terrible, as they wasted dangerous looking possessions with inaccurate and ill-timed attempts.  Defensively Abate was just as poor as he was beaten time and time again down his flank.  It was his man (Emanuele Giaccherini) who was left wide open and allowed the time and space to open the scoring.

Giacomo Bonaventura: 6.5

As he has been for most of the season, Bonaventura was Milan's best player on the night.  His dribbling and direct running caused problems for Bologna's defense.  Bonaventura may already be Milan's most reliable and important player.

Andrea Bertolacci: 6

Bertolacci has a rough first half, but he grew into the game as time went on.  Bertolacci combined well with Bonavetura down the left, and was constantly looking to advance the ball.  The Italian midfielder had his share of inaccurate passes and will be hoping that there are better games to come.

Riccardo Montolivo: 4.5

The Rossoneri captain was truly terrible on this day.  On two occasions his mindless passes in his own half were picked off by Bologna players and nearly resulted in goals.  Montolivo was routinely passed by Bologna's young midfielder Amadou Diawara, and provided absolutely no cover for his defence.  All around a horrendous performance just as talk of his 3 year extension  begins to heat up.

Keisuke Honda: 4.5

The Japanese midfielder was disappointing as ever on Wednesday.  His sloppy passes were routinely picked off, and he was dispossessed multiple times because he was too slow in possession.  Honda attempted a ridiculous scissor kick with an open net that failed miserably when a simple tap looked like it may have worked.  Honda had a few impressive dribbles, but was poor as a whole.

M'baye Niang: 5

Niang was far from his best against Bologna.  He squandered chance after chance, and his poor finishing cost Milan more than once.  He almost made up for his poor performance as he made an incredible pass to spring Cerci on a breakaway, but Cerci made a total mess of it.

Carlos Bacca: 6

The Colombian had a decent game against Bologna, but couldn't take advantage of two or three prime scoring chances.  Bologna keeper Antonio Mirante did well to thwart the Colombian, and Bologna's defence played him very tight, but if Bacca could've buried one of his chances, this may have been a different match.

Alessio Cerci: 4

An absolutely atrocious performance from Cerci.  Subbed in for Honda in the 65th minute, Cerci wasted a miraculous chance.  Sprung clear on goal by Niang's through ball, Cerci had Bacca wide open to his left.  A simple pass to Bacca would've resulted in a tap in goal and a 1-0 lead.  Instead, Cerci tried to round Mirante, who did not bite on Cerci's attempt.  Cerci then tried to run to the touchline and cut back to shoot on goal but by then there were 3 Bologna defenders on him, and his shot was easily blocked.  After that blunder Cerci provided nothing as his array of crosses were easily blocked or inaccurate.  Cerci probably cost Milan 3 points against Bologna and cemented the fact that he must go as soon as possible.

Luiz Adriano: N/A

Subbed on in the 79th minute for Niang, the Brazilian did not make an impact.

Juraj Kucka: N/A

Subbed on in the 83rd minute for Montolivo, Kucka did not make an impact, but picked up a noteworthy yellow for shoving down a Bologna player with two hands after a foul.