AC Milan enjoyed a great return to Serie A after the holidays with a big triumph against AS Roma who are led by José Mourinho. The Rossoneri managed to get the double win with a 3-1 victory at the San Siro.
Stefano Pioli used the following lineup:
4-2-3-1: Maignan; Florenzi, Kalulu, Gabbia, Hernández; Tonali, Krunić; Messias, Díaz, Saelemaekers; Giroud. On the bench: Mirante, Nava; Conti, Stanga; Bakayoko; Ibrahimović, Leão, Maldini, Rebić.
As for AS Roma, this is the lineup the coach chose for his side:
3-5-2: Rui Patrício; Mancini, Smalling, Ibañez; Karsdorp, Pellegrini, Veretout, Mkhitaryan, Viña; Zaniolo, Abraham. On the bench: Boer, Mastrantonio; Calafiori, Kumbulla; Bove, Cristante, Villar; Afena, El Shaarawy, Pérez, Shomurodov, Zalewski.
The game started well for the Rossoneri who worked hard to establish dominance thanks to the physicality and power of Sandro Tonali who was the 'lung' of this team. He covered a lot of space with Rade Krunic as well.
Milan obtained a penalty in the 8th minute after a lot of effort, which was converted by French star Olivier Giroud who therefore managed to get his 5th goal, and they're all in the San Siro.
Junior Messias continued to shine with his team as he scored his third goal of the season after receiving the rebound of Giroud's shot that hit the post.
Roma, in the 42nd minute managed to score after a shot deflected by Tammy Abraham. The first half ended strongly with a lot of tension between both sides.
In the second half, the tension continued to increase. But, Milan players remained in charge of the game and continued to press especially when Karsdorp received a red card in the 72nd minute. Rafael Leao, who finally returned from injury scored the third goal after a great control of the ball (which also served as a beautiful assist) of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Portuguese winger used his speed to take on defenders and leave them behind him.
In the 94th minute, Roma received a second card for a foul of Gianluca Mancini which granted AC Milan a penalty. Unfortunately, Zlatan Ibrahimovic could not find the back of the net. The Swede failed to score his first goal of the year as the shot was saved by goalkeeper Rui Patricio.
The game ended with a great result for Milan, despite the absences and obstacles. Now, Pioli can smile a little and focus on the plenty positive signs we saw, such as the organisation of Pierre Kalulu, Matteo Gabbia and the brilliance of Mike Maignan. There is a lot to build on from this performance.
Here are the ratings of the AC Milan players against AS Roma. Please let us know your thoughts in the comments.
