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AC Milan were forced to fight hard after a red card in the second half, and they did, securing a 2-1 win against Napoli.
In recent seasons, yesterday’s game could have gone much differently, but Massimiliano Allegri’s coaching has brought a new lease of life to the Milan team. To be honest, it has also probably brought back hope and optimism.
Things started perfectly at San Siro, as Alexis Saelemaekers gave the Rossoneri the lead inside the opening few minutes. Then, Christian Pulisic doubled the lead before the half-time break, thanks to some excellent work from Strahinja Palvovic.
Napoli got one back after Pervis Estupinan gave away a penalty, getting a red card in the process. However, the Neapolitan outfit could not level the scoring or more, and travelled back South with nothing to show for their performance.
Here are five things we learned from this clash at the top:
1. Captain America can’t stop scoring
Pulisic has six goals and two assists in seven games since the start of the season. This is all whilst forgetting that he started on the bench for half of them, if the stats alone weren’t impressive enough.
Against Napoli, he made a fantastic run for the opener. He started in his own half, escaped from an opponent with a lovely first touch and turn, then beat his man and provided a perfect cross for Saelemaekers, who slotted it in.
Then, the American managed to get his goal too, after a tidy first-touch finish.
He should’ve gotten another assist in between, after a lovely through ball for Youssouf Fofana, but the Frenchman couldn’t hit the target.
Fortunately, that didn’t ruin the day, but it was another brilliant moment by Pulisic, who, unfortunately, was subbed off following the red card, but he did enough prior to that to earn the Man of the Match in our post-game ratings.
2. Estupinan taking a step back
The former Brighton man started off the season poorly, and just started to pick up the pace in the last couple of games. Last night, he was decent before the sending off, but given the sloppiness for the red card, which was also a penalty, we have to say he was the flop of the game by a mile.
Unfortunately, the whole situation was caused by his lack of focus as he stopped playing instead of getting in front of his man and shielding the ball following Maignan’s saves. Rather, he was behind his opponent, who was going to have little to no trouble getting a goal back for his side. So, the red card seems justified.
A first error was the lack of concentration, and the second was poor decision-making, as he should’ve let it go since 2-1 up with 11 players was going to be a completely different story. The Ecuadorian will take a week off, and he’ll need to do better as he is still unable to fully convince us with his performances.
3. Modric and Rabiot were immense
You can see why Massimiliano Allegri wanted the management to bring in Adrien Rabiot. The Frechman is a very well-rounded player; he looks exhausting to play against.
An aerial threat when going forward, he can dribble and pass the ball really well, and then on top of that, he did so much work in defence. In fact, it was the defensive display that was the impressive part against Napoli. He pressed very intelligently and was a nuisance for the opposition throughout the whole game.
What can we say about Luka Modric? The Croatian was pretty much perfect in possession as he kept the ball well and dictated the game, even when the ball wasn’t at his feet, communicating with his teammates constantly and guiding them.
We saw some impressive passing from the former Real Madrid man, but similar to Rabiot, the most impressive part of his game on the night was the work rate in defence.
Modric made so many interceptions, blocks and clearances, to the point where it was hard to count. Furthermore, he ran until the final whistle, covering so much area and closing down the spaces intelligently but also quickly.
Impressive enough as we discuss it, but when we factor in his age – 40 years old – it’s an even more ridiculous feat. Astonishing performances by the duo.
4. All substitutions played their part
It was an odd game after the red card, as Milan had a very difficult task to contain this Napoli side. It probably wouldn’t have been possible if all five players who came off the bench weren’t at the needed level.
Davide Bartesaghi and Zachary Athekame did very well on either flank; they were focused and closed the gaps quickly. On the odd occasions where they were beaten, a Rossoneri player was there to cover for them, which showcased great organisation.
Koni De Winter also did very well in the middle of defence, whilst Ruben Loftus-Cheek added some more physicality to the middle. Something which helped a lot in the final minutes, as he did well to not lose the ball and recover it on a few occasions.
It was also nice to see Rafael Leao; it was interesting because he wasn’t as crazy about tracking back, even though Milan were down to 10 men. However, it seemed like that was exactly what Allegri wanted.
Napoli always kept an eye on him and didn’t allow themselves to fully commit to the attack, knowing that the Portuguese might strike a deadly blow if given the space.
Overall, it was a great effort from everybody involved to hold off an inspired Partenopei side following the red card.
5. A job well done by Allegri
We can praise the players as much as we like, but the gaffer needs some love too.
There were a lot of doubts from the fan base regarding whether he was the right man for the job, as he was linked in the summer of 2024 when the management opted for Paulo Fonseca instead. However, after a dreadful season, most fans were more than happy that the team had a proper world-class coach again.
The worries then were whether the squad was good enough or big enough…
Whilst the depth is an issue, given the lack of Europe, it seemed manageable. However, the Rossoneri have managed so far, even with injuries to Ardon Jashari and Rafael Leao.
So now, seven games in, the doubts have almost completely gone. Allegri has turned this Milan side into something every club in Serie A should fear.
The experience of Modric and Rabiot in the middle has also helped a ton, but we also see every player improving under Allegri. Notably, the backline has changed the most drastically, with Allegri’s team playing really well defensively.
Then there is Pulisic, who is off to his best start of a season with Milan and keeps on impressing, whilst Fofana and Loftus-Cheek are also looking sharper.
The next step of the puzzle is to integrate a fully fit Leao in this starting lineup, but Allegri has done enough already for us to trust that he’ll find the solution. Maybe he’ll even manage to help the Portuguese find that much-needed consistency so that he can get to the next level of his game.
We will see, but there is faith in Allegri, there is faith in the squad. Ultimately, there is faith in Milan once again.
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