Milan Player Ratings: AC Monza 0-1 AC Milan

AC Milan end AC Monza unbeaten run in the league in 2023. Stefano Pioli’s side now has three consecutive 1-0 wins across all competitions. The three game win streak is crucial with a tough couple of games coming up. Junior Messias got the winner after getting the nod to start and Ciprian Tatarusanu has yet another clean sheet. Here are our player ratings for the game:

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STARTING LINE-UP

Ciprian Tatarusanu: A changed man in February. He gets this rating for those two saves in the first five minutes. He kept us in it as those goals could have broken our confidence and sent us spiralling. 7/10

Pierre Kalulu: A top drawer performance as he put in the cross that set up the goal and was all over the pitch both in defence and attack. He made his presence felt with his pace and was direct with his tackling. 7/10

Fikayo Tomori: Atidy performance in his return from injury. Nothing of note but that is a good thing, he looked in sync with Kalulu and Thiaw. Some good tackles and that one ridiculous shot which would have been a stunning goal. 7/10

Malick Thiaw: MOTM yet again. He bossed Petagna - who is huge - then pressed Gytkjaer out of the game and was dominant in the air. He is doing so much to drive the team forward and is a breath of fresh air. 8/10

Junior Messias: A stunning goal and he repays Pioli’s faith. He is out of position as a right wing back but did make the most of the chance. Some good shots/crosses but overall got the winner. 7/10

Rade Krunic: An average performance again where he was barely noticeable bar some interceptions and a few forward passes. He is putting in passable performances but should not be starting against Atalanta nor Tottenham. 5.5/10

Sandro Tonali: Scrambling all over the pitch yet again. So many mistakes and quite a few that led to a turnaround of play. He needs a reset. 5.5/10

Theo Hernandez: Blonde hair strikes again but he is another player who is missing his shooting boots. He missed a sitter and did so in the last game. He is back physically but is missing his usual confidence in front of goal. 6.5/10

Brahim Diaz: A good display, it was unfortunate that he was brought off. He made direct runs and drew fouls all game long. He should have put away that rebound but that was up to luck. 6.5/10

Rafael Leao: The touch was missing yet again. Apart from the crazy shot that dinged the post, his attempts on goal were rather tame. He should’ve got a goal if Theo cut back to him on two ocassions. 6.5/10

Divock Origi: He is another player showing glimpses but does not get enough game time to string along a cohesive performance. His hold up play is strong and he does well to create opportunities for his teammates. A decent one. 6/10

SUBSTITUTES

Alexis Saelemaekers: He also deserved the rest but looked out of place off the bench. There was not much down his wing so he largely got stuck with managing the pace of the game and tracking the ball. 5/10

Charles de Ketelaere: He should’ve scored ye again. He seems scared to hit the target. He is just a bit unlucky. He lost possession a few times but almost had a good dribble through. 5.5/10

Olivier Giroud: A shame he came on as he deserved the rest. He was largely chasing the ball and did not gets too many chances to get a goal. 6/10

Ante Rebic: He looks rusty with the lack of game time, struggling to get passes away and always chasing the ball. N/A

Tiemoue Bakayoko: Why was he on the pitch? Not sure if he did anything. N/A

MANAGER

Stefano Pioli: He got the substitutions all wrong in this one. Giroud should have been rested throughout and Rebic/CDK being played as a false nine or give Origi a 90 minute game. The option to plug in Bakayoko over Pobega/Vranckx was criminal as the Frenchman has seen no game time and is not part of the system. 5/10