Fikayo Tomori and Rafael Leao were the shining lights, but Dusan Vlahovic was poor as AC Milan beat Juventus 2-0 in Serie A on Saturday.
AC Milan are now up to second in the Serie A table, level on points with league leaders Napoli after beating Juventus. Goals from Fikayo Tomori and Brahim Diaz sealed a vital win for the Rossoneri, and Stefano Pioli will be delighted with his team’s performance on the night.
Meanwhile, the defeat leaves Juventus eighth in the league table, with just three victories from nine matches. Massimiliano Allegri was already under tremendous pressure, and the defeat against Milan will pile further misery on him and his players. Here at The Hard Tackle, we look at how both sets of players performed in the crunch clash.
Ciprian Tatarusanu: 6.5/10
The AC Milan goalkeeper was hardly troubled, and he stood up to the challenge when called upon. Tatarusanu produced a few routine saves and was composed with his distribution.
Pierre Kalulu: 7/10
Deployed in the role of a right-back, Kalulu impressed with his defensive acumen. He was impressive with his positioning and won the ball high up the pitch a number of times to set up counter-attacks for his side.
Matteo Gabbia: 6/10
Gabbia was not the best defender on the pitch by any means, but he did his job well and without any mistakes. He complemented his fellow defenders well and kept things neat and tidy at the back.
Fikayo Tomori: 8/10
2 – Fikayo Tomori has scored both his two Serie A goals against Juventus: he is one of the three English 🏴 players to have scored more than one goal against the Bianconeri in the competition, along Gerald Hitchens (three) and Tammy Abraham (two). Target.#SerieA #MilanJuve pic.twitter.com/OOSY9fF9gy
— OptaPaolo 🏆 (@OptaPaolo) October 8, 2022
Tomori produced an impressive defensive display against a poor Juventus attack and scored a vital goal for his side. Overall, it was an excellent outing from the former Chelsea man.
Theo Hernandez: 7.5/10
The Frenchman was outstanding in the left-back role for AC Milan. He was solid defensively and added creativity to the side with his composure on the ball and impressive distribution.
Theo Hernandez comes back from injury after weeks of being out, and starts the game vs Juventus as captain.
Plays the entire game, keeps a clean sheet while winning 5 tackles & 7 ground duels AND 3 key passes.
Don't want to see another game without him… pic.twitter.com/cCTGpSUhH1— Saturnion 🙂 (@saturnion13) October 8, 2022
Ismael Bennacer: 7/10
The AC Milan midfielder produced an impressive performance against Juventus and helped the home side control the proceedings and the tempo of the game. Bennacer was composed with the ball at his feet and accurate with his passes. Kept the play ticking for the hosts.
Sandro Tonali: 6.5/10
Tonali did well to break up to play for AC Milan and won the ball back from Juventus time and again. The visitors struggled with his pressing and physical presence in the middle of the park.
Brahim Diaz: 7/10
The Spaniard caused all sorts of problems for the Juventus defence with his creativity and flair in the final third. Diaz helped create chances for his teammates and managed to find the back of the net in the second half.
Tommaso Pobega: 6/10
Pobega kept things simple in the middle and did the basics well. This was not his best display in an AC Milan shirt, but he did well to support his teammates against Juventus.
Rafael Leao: 8/10
The Portuguese international, the player to watch in our preview, has been exceptional for Milan this season, and he produced another quality performance against Juventus. Despite failing to score or create a goal, Leao caused a lot of problems for the visitors and managed to hit the woodwork twice.
Olivier Giroud: 6.5/10
Overall a mediocre display from the French target man. Giroud did hold up the ball well, but the accuracy was missing from his passes. He eventually did manage to assist the goal for Tomori.
SUBSTITUTES
Rade Krunic: 6.5/10
Krunic was brought on to tighten things up, and he did just that. Helped contain the Juventus attackers.
Ante Rebic: 6/10
Rebic pressed the opposition and helped regain control for his side.
Charles De Ketelaere: 5/10
De Ketelaere barely managed to create anything after coming on.
Aster Vrancx: N/A
Did not play enough to warrant a rating.
Divock Origi: N/A
Did not play enough to warrant a rating.
FT | ⌛️ | Full-time at San Siro.#MilanJuve #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/rN1T7VD8tT
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) October 8, 2022
Juventus
Wojciech Szczesny: 5/10
There was not a lot Szczesny could have done to prevent his side from losing the game. However, he will feel that he should have done better with the effort from Brahim Diaz.
Danilo: 5/10
Danilo was all over the place when he came up against an inspired Leao. However, he did impress going forward.
Gleison Bremer: 6/10
Bremer did not make any mistakes as such and defended well. However, he played it safe with his distribution like his teammates and Juventus never really managed to assert themselves.
Leonardo Bonucci: 4/10
A poor outing from the veteran defender. Bonucci was at fault in the build-up to the goal that Diaz scored.
Alex Sandro: 4/10
The Brazilian defender had a disappointing outing on the night, and he was caught out of position for the home side’s second goal.
Juan Cuadrado: 4/10
Cuadrado tried to provide a cutting edge for the side going forward. But he was up against the impressive Theo Hernandez and barely managed to create any chances for his teammates.
Manuel Locatelli: 4/10
A disappointing return for Manuel Locatelli to his boyhood club. He failed to drive his team forward and could not control the tempo of the game either.
Adrien Rabiot: 4/10
Much like his teammates, the Frenchman looked out of sorts in the middle of the pitch and barely had any impact on the game.
Filip Kostic: 4/10
Kostic had a lot of creative onus on him coming into the game, but he barely threatened the AC Milan defence. He cut a frustrated figure in the wide areas and was rightly taken off early on in the second half.
Dusan Vlahovic: 0/10
Vlahovic produced one of his worst performances in a Juventus shirt. The towering Serbian forward was starved of service, and he could not impact the game with his movement and physical presence either. On top of that, he was partly responsible for the counter-attack that allowed Diaz to score.
Allegri has turned Dusan Vlahovic into Andy Carroll, Manuel Locatelli into Christian Poulsen…and Weston McKennie into Weston McKennie#MilanJuve
— Carlo Garganese (@carlogarganese) October 8, 2022
Arkadiusz Milik: 5/10
The Juventus striker worked hard at San Siro, but he barely had any service and did not trouble the AC Milan defence too much.
SUBSTITUTES
Fabio Miretti: 5/10
Miretti was largely ineffective after coming on like the rest of his teammates throughout the game.
Leandro Paredes: 5/10
Paredes was brought on to help Juventus control the game better in the middle of the park, but the Argentine failed spectacularly.
Moise Kean: N/A
Kean came on too late to make any meaningful impact.
Matias Soule: N/A
Soule came on too late to make any meaningful impact.
