Milan Player Ratings: Fiorentina 4-3 Milan

Finally after two weeks AC Milan return to action against Fiorentina. A late injury saw Matteo Gabbia get the start next to Simon Kjaer in central defence. This was a horrendous start for Milan as just 15 minutes in they conceded off a blunder from Tatarusanu and Gabbia. Milan responded very well to the Fiorentina goal and had chances of their own. However, they were unable to find that final pass to breakthrough the Fiorentina defence. Then in the 45th minute Ricardo Saponara curled a second goal past Tatarusanu. At the break Milan looked down and defeated.

A lack of finishing continued to hurt Milan as they had chances but failed to capitalize. In the 60th minute Fiorentina struck again but this time with Dusan Vlahovic scoring to triple the lead. Milan did show some fight with two back to back goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to bring Milan within one. In the 85th minute another Milan mistake lead to Vlahovic sealing the deal for Fiorentina. Right when the ball crossed the goal line was the moment I turned off the game after a disgraceful display.

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STARTING LINE-UP

Ciprian Tatarusanu: After being the hero against Inter Milan, Tata was a zero in this match. A very poor mistake was the first domino to fall in this disaster class from Milan. 3.5/10

Pierre Kalulu: Kalulu had a very solid match and I like his aggressiveness to win the ball high up the pitch. If Kalulu keeps improving then Milan might have their right back for the future. 6/10

Matteo Gabbia: A very rough match for Gabbia. He struggle big time and looked a few steps slower than his opponents. In a moment like this Gabbia should have put in a better performance but he didn't and it cost Milan. 4/10

Simon Kjaer: Kjaer had a lot on his plate in this match as he was the one handling red hot striker Dusan Vlahovic. Kjaer did a fairly good job on him and made sure that Vlahovic felt Kjaer everywhere he moved. 6/10

Theo Hernandez: Theo hasn't had the best year and this match encompasses that. Too many times he was dribbling in the dangerous zone near his own box. Finally, that bit him in the butt and sealed a Milan loss. 4/10

Sandro Tonali: Sandro played a fine match, you could see that he was trying to find that lob pass to unlock the Fiorentina defence and find Ibra or Leao. On the other hand Sandro should have gotten that ball out of a danger area near the end of the second half. 5.5/10

Franck Kessie: Franck was noticeably everywhere in this match and he covered for some faulty defending. However, giving Kessie the armband when he is seemingly out the door is a questionable decision. 6/10

Brahim Diaz: Another match where Diaz didn't have much of an impact. Early on in the season Diaz seemed to be poised for a breakout year. Since then he has dropped in quality. Diaz needs to bring his early season form back. 5/10

Alexis Saelemaekers: Saelemaekers was ok but it is still clear that being a sub is the best case for him. He works his butt off but sometimes he needs more quality in the final third. 5.5/10

Rafael Leao: Leao continues to blow me away this year. Every match he seem so dangerous and a focal point for the Milan attack. 6.5/10

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Sure Zlatan scored two goals but there were so many other opportunities that he could have capitalized on. If Zlatan scores earlier in the match then there might have been a different outcome. 6/10

SUBSTITUTES

Oliver Giroud: Giroud didn't contribute much on paper but his movement alongside Zlatan is very good. Giroud opens up a lot of space and does things that go under the radar. 6/10

Junior Messias: Did Messias even touch the ball in this match? All jokes aside this wasn't a good showing form Messias but it is only up from here. 5.5/10

Alessandro Florenzi: I didn't think it was a great decision to sub out Kalulu but Florenzi came in an and put in a professional performance. 6/10

Ismael Bennacer: Like Florenzi, Bennacer came on and did what he was supposed to do. Not a lot of minutes to show anything spectacular but still good. 6/10

Rade Krunic: N/A

MANAGER

Stefano Pioli: It is hard to grade Pioli in this match because Milan did have chances but they couldn't capitalize. Then Milan did make mistakes but they were all player errors and had nothing to do with Pioli. I didn't really like the subs from Pioli but with a performance like that I don't think the subs would have mattered. 5.5/10