Football Italia
·17 August 2024
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·17 August 2024
Paulo Fonseca’s second-half substitutions had to bail the rest of the team out during Milan’s 2-2 draw at home with Torino on the opening day of the Serie A season, in what was at one point looking like a slightly worrying display.
Milan fell two goals behind after an unfortunate own goal from Malick Thiaw and a powerful Duvan Zapata header. New striker Alvaro Morata was on hand to grab one back in the 90th minute, before Noah Okafor powered in a volley to equalise deep into injury time.
Check out Milan’s player ratings from Saturday’s entertaining 2-2 draw in San Siro.
Maignan 5.5 – On another day, he might have stopped the cut-back header that led to Torino’s opener, but easier said than done. Zapata’s header for the second came at him from point-blank range, so not a lot he could have done there.
Calabria 5 – Offered very little help when Torino got the cross in for their second down his side of the pitch. Looked a bit leggy at times, not particularly ideal for the first game of the season. (Okafor 7)
Tomori 6 – Certainly Milan’s standout defender, but that isn’t really the greatest of compliments on this occasion.
Thiaw 4 – The own goal was unfortunate. Needed to do something with Zapata closing him down, but would have been much better off hoofing it away with his first touch.
Saelemaekers 3 – The left-back experiment didn’t exactly work out. The Belgian didn’t look comfortable and did poorly with his half-hearted attempt at preventing the header back across goal for Torino’s opener. Swapped back to the right wing when Theo Hernandez entered the fray.
Bennacer 6.5 – Back in the Rossoneri starting line-up with 97.5% pass accuracy. 41 out of 42 completed. (Reijnders 7.5)
Loftus-Cheek 6.5 – Rarely lost possession of the ball and ended the game with a pass completion rate of 94%. Not a terrible individual display, despite a slightly worrying start for the team.
Chukwueze 5.5 – Tipped for great things on the Rossoneri right flank this season, he hardly saw much of the ball before his substitution and ended the game with no completed dribbles. (T.Hernandez 6)
Pulisic 5.5 – In the no.10 role, but wasn’t afforded the time or space to express himself as much as he would’ve hoped. Replaced by his compatriot, who ended up with the assist for Milan’s equaliser. (Musah 7)
Leao 6.5 – Still the star of this Milan team, even if he was not directly involved in either goal. Had the ball much more than his opposite number on the right wing, and was not dispossessed at all in what was eventually well over 100 minutes of football.
Jovic 5 – Handed a glorious opportunity to prove his worth to Paulo Fonseca, but only mustered up one shot on target from his hour-long outing. His replacement showed him how it should be done half an hour into his league debut. (Morata 7)