Tactical Review of Milan’s Dominant 3-0 Win over Cagliari to Keep the 4th Spot

AC Milan put on a dominant show for their largest win in the league this season beating Cagliari 3-0, with both of Milan’s January signings getting on the score sheet. Here’s a review of the game:

Piatek Feeding Off Scraps

Piatek delivered another good performance and scored for his third game running for the rossoneri. He had a difficult task ahead of him as he did not receive much service from the wingers but he demonstrated his talent in feeding off scraps and keeping his goal streak alive. He seems to possess the right attitude that Milan need from their striker that has lacked, the pure desire to just knock every ball into the back of the net. Piatek should’ve scored a chip in the first half following an interception but thankfully he kept his composure to score from the crazy deflection off Calhanoglu’s shot. Let’s pray for the streak to live on!

Paqueta Shines in Emotional Game

Paqueta has been on a bit of a streak himself bagging assists in his previous two games and then scored his first goal for Milan against Cagliari. He added a back-post threat to the attack pressing in deep on a Calabria cross to smoothly put away a side-footed shot into the back of the net. He dedicated his goal to the victims of the fire at the Flamengo youth team this past week. The game was an emotional one and he handled himself quite well and put on a classy performance. Paqueta is growing with every game, his flair is pleasing the fans but his consitency could use a leg up, his biggest benefit is that little bit of magic that leads dangerous attacks and chances that Milan had been lacking.

Suso and Calhanoglu Missing the Mark

We spoke about the need for Milan’s wingers to improve last week, and against Cagliari there was a definite improvement but in the defensive aspect of the game and not as much in the attacking aspect. Both Suso and Calhanoglu missed multiple chances to score and to assist but lacked the vital decisiveness to make the right call. Calhanoglu failed attempt on goal led to Piatek’s goal but she should’ve passed or hit the target. Suso on the other hand missed a couple of shots from close quarters and criminally chose to go for goal when he could have set up Cutrone for a simple tap-in. They are improving but need some more resolve in the attack.

Kessie shows his Impact

Kessie has received a lot of criticism from Milan fans over the past few months but he demonstrated against Cagliari where his true worth lies. He is the engine of the team and plays the box-to-box game like a tank. He made lung busting runs up and down the pitch, he put in key interceptions and was accurate with his passing. His shortcoming came with his finishing once again, as we can all recall his bursting run across the entire pitch ending with a poor shot that was well wide of the goal. My god, can you imagine if Kessie could shoot? He would be a phenomenal all-rounder. Looking forward to more complete performances from him.

Calabria is the New Creative Force

I have always supported this kid and felt that it would be a tough choice to make between Calabri and Conti as it would be a trade-off between a defensively sound wing back and a creative wing back. However over the past year or so Calabria has improved his crossing and passing, he has made darting runs down the wing and developed a keen partnership with Suso and Kessie. Calabria put in a sublime assist to gift Paqueta his first goal in a Milan shirt. Moreover the most impressive piece of play is when Calabria followed up on a run into the box and lobbed a defender and almost scored. Defensively he has been great make interceptions and clearances throughout and always giving wingers a hard time with his good positioning. Another silent hero for Milan.