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AC Milan suffered a poor defeat away at Torino after a poor defensive display, which we have seen many times this season. A couple really should have done better, while a few did well enough, and below are the player ratings for the Rossoneri. 

Starting XI

Sportiello (6): He had a shaky moment at the start when he almost touched the ball outside the box, but recovered from that. However, he couldn’t do anything about the goals scored and he was okay with his feet, so he gets a pass here.

Kalulu (5.5): It wasn’t the best defensive display from the Frenchman and he was rather anonymous when going forward as well. He can do much better.

Thiaw (5): The main culprit on the first goal as it looked like he lost track of Zapata. It was a very good cross, we must add, but the German needed to do a whole lot better. He also could have been more assertive in other duels.

Tomori (5): Very, very poor defending on the second goal as he tried to mark the opponent that Kalulu was already marking in the centre. And then he somehow looked surprised when no one was at the back post, which is where he should have been in that situation. A whole lot of complaining from him too, not much shown.

Terracciano (5.5): He had a rather bright start to the game, playing in an inverted role, but he ultimately didn’t have that much success in his actions. In his defence, it probably could have been a 6 but we should expect more.

Musah (5.5): Similarly to the full-back above, the American often made the right runs and made himself available, but nothing of value came when he was in possession. Better compared to other games, but still not great.

Reijnders (6): Very important in terms of creating chances for Milan tonight, although the Rossoneri didn’t create a whole lot. His ability to accelerate past opponents in tight situations comes in handy all the time, but he can also contribute more.

Bennacer (6.5): An okay game overall from the captain of the evening, although he lost that duel against Pellegri in an unlucky fashion before the second goal. It was certainly a very good penalty, though, scoring his second of the season.

Pulisic (6.5 – MOTM): He hit the crossbar with a thumping effort and then won the penalty. He helped create a few more chances but also missed a few with his head. In any case, he’s the MOTM for tonight thanks to a willingness to make things happen.

Jovic (5.5): Unfortunately, while he did show off a couple of nice passes, he wasn’t incisive enough for Milan tonight. He found himself on the back foot one too many times, which is not ideal for a striker of his profile.

Okafor (6): Nearly scored a wondergoal with a nice curler and also managed to beat his man on more than one occasion. It was right to take him off, though, as he had gone a bit quiet in that period of the game.

Substitutes

Leao (5.5): A couple of very poor crosses straight off the bat and we didn’t see a whole lot of him, though he did get some ‘revenge’ with a nice quick counter (his shot was saved).

Florenzi (6): The veteran had a few very nice corner kicks and also found Leao with a great long ball for the aforementioned counter-attack chance.

Giroud (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.

Pobega (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.

The manager

Pioli (5.5): Inverted full-backs galore tonight with some peculiar tactics from Milan, though the feeling is this only brought more confusion. The same goals are still being conceded as well, which is far from ideal. Anyway, it was good to see him give the reserves a chance.

This article first appeared on SempreMilan and was syndicated with permission.

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