Player Ratings: Udinese 0-4 AC Milan – Theo responds as several impress | OneFootball

AC Milan responded to recent criticism with an enjoyable 4-0 away at Udinese on Friday evening. Several players impressed, including Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao, and below are the ratings for the Rossoneri.

If you haven’t already, make sure to check out how we decide the player ratings. From the scale to what affects the rating, we have compiled everything there.

Starting XI

Maignan (6): Sadly, the goalkeeper was booed and whistled by the Udinese ultras every time he touched the ball, but he at least got to respond with a good save in the first half. We didn’t see much in the second half, of course, due to the heavy collision with Jimenez. Hopefully, it’s nothing too serious.

Tomori (6): The Englishman made his second consecutive game from start and defended a lot better than what we saw against Fiorentina (i.e. decent tonight). He also had a couple of nice passes forward so definitely enough to get a 6 here, even if he got beaten a few times.

Gabbia (6): As we have seen so many times before, it was solid defending from start to finish and not much more. To be honest, as the central defender in the back three, he did exactly what Milan needed by commanding the ship.

Pavlovic (7.5): Clearly, a three-man backline suits him well. With more coverage at the back, he was able to make his runs forward and did so successfully, while also having several fantastic defensive interventions. The goal was the icing on the cake really, scoring with a great header after using his size in the box.

Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images

Jimenez (6.5): While not clear-cut, it feels like he deserves a 6.5, seeing as we saw a lot of good from him in possession. It was still kind of a mixed bag in defence, though, with good and bad moments. The collision with Maignan was nasty and he had to be subbed off eventually, so hopefully nothing serious for him either.

Fofana (7): The Frenchman was crucial on Milan’s first goal, doing what he does best by winning the ball back before setting up Leao. The passing could have been a bit better in the first half but in the second, he improved massively and certainly deserves the high rating here.

Reijnders (6.5): About 20 seconds in the game, he had a 1v1 with the keeper but failed to convert, even if it was also a good save. It should have been a goal, though, and it inevitably hurts his rating a bit. He got the goal in the end and also had several very good runs, hence the 6.5 here despite the miss.

Hernandez (7.5): So much better compared to the Fiorentina game, and many other games this season for that matter. He impressed in both phases of the game, especially in attack, and it was a great strike to make it 3-0 for Milan. While a proper attitude has been lacking in other games, that certainly wasn’t the case tonight.

Pulisic (7): The American may not have been super involved all the time, but he got a lovely assist for Pavlovic’s goal, once again showing what he can do with the corners. Throughout the game, he also made the right runs which opened up space for his teammates, even if he didn’t always get the ball.

Jovic (6): It was always going to be tough to match the expectations, but the Serbian handled the game well still. Whenever he did get on the ball, even if not super often, he showed great control and composure. It just wasn’t the night for him in terms of goalscoring, but not a bad performance at all.

Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images

Leao (8 – MOTM): Fantastic goal to break the deadlock, getting just the right curl in the shot, and then he was heavily involved in the third goal with a great flick. For the fourth, of course, he got the assist. In addition to all that, he was good in possession and didn’t make the usual sloppy mistakes we have seen this season, so the MOTM is well deserved.

Substitutes

Sportiello (6): He was forced into action a few times, making some good stops and recovering the ball nicely after Lucca missed Udinese’s big chance.

Abraham (7): The striker has been in great form lately and got an assist almost immediately, flicking it through to Hernandez. It was even better from him on the fourth goal with the pass for Leao, showing just how useful he is.

Sottil (6): He had some good runs forward with the ball and handled that wing-back role well, even if it was only for a short period of time.

Bartesaghi (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.

Terracciano (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.