After two consecutive defeats in Serie A, as well as two draws in Europa League, Milan desperately needed a win against Roma earlier this evening. And they managed to get the job done with their best performance in a long time, creating many goalscoring opportunities especially in the first half.
Juventus got just one point from their clash against Hellas Verona and with Roma just behind in fourth, it was important for Milan to take advantage of the situation. Franck Kessie and Ante Rebic stepped up and scored the goals, but the entire Rossoneri team should be praised for the display.
They are now six points ahead of Juventus in third (one game in hand) and still four points behind city rivals Inter. Given that the upcoming weeks will be very demanding, the three points will give them a bit more security and obviously a big confidence boost. Down below are their top three performers, in no particular order.
Fikayo Tomori: The Chelsea loanee was amazing in the heart of the defence, replacing captain Alessio Romagnoli who has struggled lately. You would think that this would add a lot of pressure on the Englishman’s shoulders, but it didn’t seem to bother him at all as he was one of the best players on the pitch.
Alongside Simon Kjaer, who also did well tonight, Tomori was able to use his pace to intercept the ball and also close down the Roma attackers several times. He almost got himself a goal as well, but his defensive partner was narrowly offside in the build-up and so it was ruled out.
Franck Kessie: It has been said many times this season and it deserves to be said again; ‘Il Presidente’ is absolutely crucial for Milan and he showed just why this evening. In addition to converting the penalty with ease, as you would expect, he worked extremely hard in the defensive phase to disrupt Roma’s play.
Towards the end of the game, he was very hard to dispossess for the Giallorossi and this allowed his teammates to get some much-needed rest as the home side pushed for an equaliser. In the coming weeks, which will be very demanding schedule-wise, Kessie will be of great importance for the Rossoneri.
Ante Rebic: Just like Romagnoli, the Croatian has been heavily criticised in recent weeks and it was certainly justified after his mid-week performance vs. Red Star Belgrade. However, he took the opportunity tonight and bounced back in style, always involved in the attack and creating many chances.
His goal was enjoyable to watch as he quickly fooled Gianluca Mancini, firing it into the back of the net with his weaker foot. It remains to be seen if he will be avaialble against Udinese, though, as he was forced to leave the pitch with an injury in the second half. Initial reports suggest it’s a hip injury.
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