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After 17 minutes of Monday night’s game at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, AC Milan were staring down the barrel of back-to-back defeats, but they roared back.
When Nikola Vlasic buried a penalty and Duvan Zapata ended his goal drought to put the home side 2-0 up, it looked like Milan’s dreadful record in away league games against Torino was almost certain to continue.
However, Adrien Rabiot’s beautiful 29-metre strike not long after Zapata’s goal inspired hope, and then it was the Christian Pulisic show. The USA international had shaken off flu to make the squad at the last minute, and he netted a clutch second-half brace off the bench to complete the comeback.
It is only Milan’s second win in 13 games away in the league against the Granata, and it sees Massimiliano Allegri’s men return to the summit in Serie A after Inter and Napoli won. Ivan Stoev has five things we learned from the game.
1. Rabiot paves the way with a stunner
The Frenchman took matters into his own hands and scored a screamer from 30 meters out to start the comeback for his side. In addition to the goal, he was useful in both phases of the game, but the goal warrants praise on its own.
Rabiot continues his great run in the league with Milan, having participated in 6 wins and 1 draw, and it’s very obvious that the team is much better with him on the pitch.
2. Slow starts a recurring theme
Despite the positive season thus far, the Rossoneri continue to struggle at the beginning of their games. Whilst it doesn’t always result in goals conceded, it’s a worrying sign and it could’ve resulted in a totally different situation against Torino had it not been for the individual brilliance from Rabiot and Pulisic.
The fact that Landucci’s team played such good football after the 30-minute mark proves they are a very strong side. However, consistency must be found from the first whistle till the last.
What is annoying is that the goals conceded in this initial period are often not due to impressive moments from the opponent. Instead, the lack of concentration from the Rossoneri is similar in each game.
The schedule in Serie A looks promising for Allegri and his men moving forward, but they need to step on the gas if they want to stay at the top of the table.
3. Shaky at the back, again
Fikayo Tomori was the culprit this time around with a clumsy handball and after a very positive start to the season, the Englishman has had some disappointing performances recently.
He did his job well after that initial mistake, yes, but he needs to be a bit more consistent. Nevertheless, the improvement compared to last season is still evident.
Strahinja Pavlovic was a bit better compared to Tomori, but he had a part to play in Torino’s second goal, given he could’ve done a bit more to stop Zapata.
In fairness, he did close down the striker and it was unlucky that the ball went through his legs, but the feeling is that he should’ve gambled and tried the interception in that situation. Following that, however, the Serbian was really solid – again, which has been the case for most of the season.
Matteo Gabbia was the constant at the back once again; he barely made any mistakes and led his team from the back, involving himself in the build-up and covering for his teammates. Really solid from the Italian yet again.
4. Better but not quite there yet
The game started familiarly with Christopher Nkunku offering little to nothing up front and actually losing the ball quite easily for Torino’s second goal.
But, in fairness, he did improve in the second half and helped his team with some good work, linking up nicely with his teammates. He also opened up space for Pulisic, who essentially sealed the win, which is a plus. Additionally, the Frenchman would’ve gotten an assist for the American too, but he failed to stay onside, and the goal was ruled out.
That being said, compared to previous games, this one was much better. Yet there’s still a long way to go to justify that price tag.
5. Captain America does it again
When the situation was grim, Pulisic rose to the occasion in fashion. It only took the American a minute to level the score and then 10 more to put his side ahead in the game and top of the table.
The attacker had a fever the night before and was on the bench against Torino. Honestly, he seemed like he could’ve done with sitting this one out, but when his team needed him, he seemingly forgot about that fever and did what he does best.
He was in the right place at the right time, which resulted in him bagging a brace. Pulisic is now the joint top scorer in the league with seven goals on top of the two assists he has in just nine (not full) games, as he continues to impress under Max Allegri.
A joy to watch and an impressive season thus far, hopefully he can stay fit and play more consistently from now on.
English (US) ·