There was precious little to smile about against Arsenal, but which Milan players escaped the wrath of the Football Italia ratings?
Words: Ciro Di Brita – @Ciruzzo36
Gianluigi Donnarumma – 6
Couldn’t do much to stop Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s shot after it took a slight deflection off Leonardo Bonucci’s leg. Was left all on his own by his defence for Arsenal’s second goal but still managed to pull off some decent saves throughout the rest of the game.
There was precious little to smile about against Arsenal, but which Milan players escaped the wrath of the Football Italia ratings?
Words: Ciro Di Brita – @Ciruzzo36
Gianluigi Donnarumma – 6
Couldn’t do much to stop Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s shot after it took a slight deflection off Leonardo Bonucci’s leg. Was left all on his own by his defence for Arsenal’s second goal but still managed to pull off some decent saves throughout the rest of the game.
Davide Calabria – 5.5
His sloppy pass out from the back was turned over and he was caught out of position in the build-up for Arsenal’s opening goal. Seemed like Arsenal had identified his position as the weak point to attack and attack they did in the early minutes of the game. The youngster grew more confident in the second half.
Leonardo Bonucci – 5.5
Couldn’t quite get out in time to get a decent block on Mkhitaryan’s shot that led to the first goal. Wasn’t allowed to play the ball out from the back in the first half and when he was in the second, he couldn’t find a teammate.
Alessio Romagnoli – 6
Both he and Bonucci struggled all night, they just couldn’t cope with the quick combination plays around the Milan box. A tough night was made all the more difficult by having no midfield cover in front of them.
Ricardo Rodriguez – 6
Ever-willing runner down the left flank, but failed to link up with his forwards. Defended decently enough, even though most of Arsenal’s attacks went down the opposite flank.
Franck Kessie – 6
Tried to burst forward on occasion, but was pushed back into an uncomfortable defensive role for the night. Almost gifted the Gunners a third goal with a slack back-pass and was guilty of under-hitting passes all game.
Lucas Biglia – 5
Just couldn’t cope with the Gunners movement off the ball and was caught napping on the second goal. His lack of pace was shown up by the likes of Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Mkhitaryan running past him.
Giacomo Bonaventura – 5
A poor game from Jack, his decision making was terrible, and he never seemed up to the tempo. Was caught in possession too often and struggled to impact the game other than giving the ball away.
Suso – 5.5
Another frustrating night for Milan fans watching the little Spaniard hold on to the ball too long and make the wrong decision time after time. Never looked likely to score or create, even had one embarrassing attempted shot that he sliced out for a thrown in.
Patrick Cutrone – 5
Harried and harassed Arsenal’s backline early and caused them some problems, found himself in the box with a good chance to have a shot on goal, but snatched at his strike when a more composed finish was needed. Faded from the game then.
Hakan Calhanoglu – 5
Calhanoglu tried to make something happen in the rare times he found the ball at his feet, but had no end product. Probably could have gone down for a penalty when the game was 0-0 instead of hurdling the onrushing David Ospina just inside the box, but was too honest and stayed on his feet.
Substitutes:
Nikola Kalinic – 5.5
Replaced Calhanoglu with half an hour remaining as Milan went with two up top to try get back in the game.
Andre Silva – 6
Came on for Cutrone to try adding some creativity around the Arsenal box and slipped Kalinic in with a lovely through ball that the Croatian just couldn’t get on the end of.
Fabio Borini – N/A
Replaced Calabria for the last 15 minutes and chugged away up and down the field without really doing anything.