AC Milan have the full points after three league games. It's a perfect start for Stefano Pioli. After convincing victories against Bologna and Torino, the Rossoneri won and impressed in their first big test of the season: an away game at the Olimpico stadium against AS Roma.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport writes this morning, the Rossoneri's performance in the capital was dominant. Here is their chosen headline:
"Milan's supremacy in the first half was almost total, almost disarming."
Pioli's team, in fact, managed to dictate the game until the 61st minute when Fikayo Tomori was sent off due to his second yellow card. Despite the Rossoneri being one man down for almost forty minutes (including stoppage time), Roma only managed to score a goal from outside the box with four minutes left on the clock.
Milan left a great impression with the new players still making the difference: yesterday, it was primarily Ruben Loftus-Cheek (who was given a rating of 7.5), unstoppable in midfield and the one who earned a penalty after just a few minutes of play. With him, Reijnders and Pulisic. But the "old" players didn't disappoint either: Olivier Giroud scored again and is the top scorer, while Rafael Leao was elusive and brilliant with his overhead goal.
As per La Gazzetta dello Sport, it was hard to correctly predict AC Milan's three first results in the league because two of them are against tough teams like Bologna and Roma and also are away from home, in addition to that, Milan went through so man changes in their roster and also in terms of tactics.
What is especially surprising is the continuous movement of the pieces on the field: despite the official formation being listed as 4-3-3, different things happen on the field.
For example, Davide Calabria moves to the center and plays as an additional midfielder, leaving the right side open for Loftus and Pulisic. With several new faces yet to be integrated, it seems that this Milan still has a lot of room for improvement, and it might even be a shame that this break is coming at such a positive moment. However, for now, the Rossoneri are enjoying nine points out of nine: when they return, it will be time for the real challenges, with the derby and the Champions League waiting around the corner.
Three points for the #Rossoneri against AS Roma! 💪 Goals scored by Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leao ⚽️🔝 pic.twitter.com/WDybFyhooj
— MilanReports (@MilanReportscom) September 1, 2023
