Milan Player Ratings: Milan 4-2 Bologna

On Saturday, AC Milan turned their attention back to Serie A as they faced Bologna. From the start this didn't seem like the Milan that we are used to seeing. This Milan looked more like the Milan that we've seen from the banter era. However, even with playing poor they found a way to take the lead with a very nice strike from Rafael Leao. Milan doubled their lead after a Ballo-Toure cross ended up at the feet of Davide Calabria who made no mistake and scored. Even up a man and having a two goal lead Milan didn't look great. At the break they were up 2-0.

The start of the second half was a disaster for Milan. They conceded a very poor goal early in the half and then minutes later Bologna equalized. Milan were outplayed from that point on, however, as luck would have it Bologna got a second red, meaning that they would be playing with nine men. It seemed the two red cards made the difference as Milan score two goals near the end of the match to get the victory.

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STARTING LINE-UP

Ciprian Tatarusanu: The first match with Tata in net wasn't too bad but I was worried every time he touched the ball. On both of Bologna’s goals he could have done a bit better but I won't fault him as much for the second one. 5.5/10

Davide Calabria: Calabria has been scoring so far this season. Pioli is playing him very high up the pitch and in some ways this is good because he can get involved in the attack and score like he did in this match. However, this leaves Milan very exposed on the counter which Bologna did exploited. 6/10

Fikayo Tomori: Tomori was ok in this match. I think at times he was over aggressive and that did cost him on the second Bologna goal. I also think once there were substitutions he was a bit hung out to dry by the midfield and Ballo-Toure. 6/10

Simon Kjaer: I rate Kjaer similar to Tomori in this match. They played very similar matches and had their mistakes on the second Bologna goal. 6/10

Fode Ballo-Toure: Ballo-Toure had his ups and downs this match. He flung in some decent crosses but to me he looks lost on the defensive end. It seems he doesn't know where to be and his pressing/aggressiveness leaves a lot to be desired. 5.5/10

Ismael Bennacer: Overall Bennacer was fine but his technique on his goal was class. The way he struck the ball was perfection and it found the bottom corner to give Milan the lead. Ismael really progressed the ball well when Bologna went to nine men but that isn't saying much. 6.5/10

Sandro Tonali: I really do like the way Tonali plays. He has a combination of technique and work rate that helps Milan so much. He was subbed off for Bakayoko but we will get into that later. 6/10

Samu Castillejo: Samu returned back to earth, he was petty horrible and it seems last week was just a one time thing. 5/10

Rade Krunic: Krunic didn't pop out at all in this match and a 10 in this formation can't do that. That position is vital to how Milan play and in this case Krunic was a ghost. He did have a nice run that led to a Bologna red. 5.7/10

Rafael Leao: Leao continues to show improvement this season. His goal was a great run and good shot (even though it was deflected). Leao is the main source of chance creation at the moment. 6.5/10

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: This was a very poor performance from Ibra. He looked a step slower than everyone else on the pitch. Hopefully that is just some rust. He did score so credit to him there. 5.5/10

SUBSTITUTES

Alexis Saelemaekers: Nothing to impressive from Saelemaekers here. He worked his butt off and got a yellow so a classic Alexis match. 5.5/10

Tiemoue Bakayoko: Like Ballo-Toure, Bakayoko doesn't seem to be settled. He lost so many balls in the midfield and at times he was standing there as the play was just passing him by. 5/10

Olivier Giroud: Giroud didn't get many opportunities but he almost scored another header which was barely saved. Giroud is a great sub/starter and his ability in the air is devastating Serie A.

Pierre Kalulu: N/A

Manager

Stefano Pioli: There wasn't much Pioli got wrong here in my opinion. He is so limited with the players he has and the players that played didn't give him the energy that was needed to perform. Maybe Pioli should give them a day off to rest and recoup. 6/10