Milan Player Ratings: AC Milan 3 - 2 Inter Milan

AC Milan whacked Inter Milan 3-2 in the first derby della Madonnina of the season as Rafael Leao dominated the fixture with his two goals and an assist. Olivier Giroud turned up in the big game once again with a goal and an assist showing his class but the true masterclass came from Mike Maignan who saves kept us in the game. Here are our player ratings for the derby:

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STARTING LINE-UP

Mike Maignan: Not perfect as he conceded two goals but made some important saves that kept us in the lead when Inter were pressing hard. 7.5/10

Davide Calabria: An average performance from him but he made a naive mistake on Inter’s second goal as he followed the ball not the player which allowed Darmian the space the put in the cross. 6/10

Pierre Kalulu: A strong game yet again as he kept it simple and was solid keeping Martinez out of it. He bears some responsibility on the first goal but lost his cover. 7/10

Fikayo Tomori: A flop performance from him, he was off beat and was directly beaten on both of Inter’s goals. He needs to find his mojo again. 5/10

Theo Hernandez: A really solid performance where he showed character against the whining of Dumfries and Skriniar. He offered an important attacking outlet with some close calls. 7.5/10

Ismael Bennacer: A dominant display where he humiliated Calhanoglu on multiple occasions and largely kept Barella locked out of the game. 7.5/10

Sandro Tonali: A true Rossonero performance. A gritty game full of hard tackles, key interceptions and a strong desire to drive forward. His assist on the equaliser was pivotal to the result. 8.5/10

Junior Messias: An okay performance from him but was significantly better than Saelemaekers, his interplay with CDK was good and pressed Darmian well. 6.5/10

Charles de Ketelaere: His hold up play was brilliant and made all the difference in this game. Our tempo dropped when he left the pitch but otherwise looked strong and dominant, also showed his aerial prowess. 7.5/10

Rafael Leao: A brilliant performance from him and he decimated Inter on each of the goals. It was Leao’s derby as he picked up 2 goals and 1 assist to crown himself as the king of the tie. He is showing that his MVP award was not a fluke nor a one-off. 9.5/10

Olivier Giroud: He is the big game player for us and he shows it once again with a stunning goal and an assist to shut up the Inter fans. He has scored in two derbies now and is very close to his own cult following at the club. 9/10

SUBSTITUTES

Brahim Diaz: A mixed game from him, his first ten or so minutes dropped our intensity and physicality which allowed Inter a foothold but thereafter he really threw his soul into and defended like a champ. 6.5/10

Alexis Saelemaekers: Another lacklustre performance, it shocking how good he makes Messias look. He constantly loses the ball in the build up which really boosted Inter’s confidence. 5/10

Divock Origi: His strength and close control dribbling are a marvel to behold. He was playing with Inter’s defence and created a couple of nervy moments for them. He should’ve had more composure to carve out a real chance but did well given the situation. Very exciting. 7/10

Tommaso Pobega: He got his hands dirty with some hard tackles and pushed the ball forward relentlessly. He had a golden opportunity on goal but Leao didn’t see the pass but overall kept it simple and cleared every ball. 6.5/10

Simon Kjaer: He brought a calmness to the play and was barking orders to stay compact at the end but not much for him to do. N/A

MANAGER

Stefano Pioli: Overall a good response and a solid win. He has improved the team in attack but needs to work on the focus in defence especially from set pieces and crosses as we have been exposed there all summer long. 8/10