Player Ratings: AC Milan 1-0 Girona – Bennacer, Leao and Pavlovic lead the way | OneFootball

AC Milan clinched three very important points in their pursuit of a top 8 finish in the Champions League, beating Girona by the odd goal tonight. Three players stood out 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 (7): The captain saved Milan from conceding in the first half with two big saves, one before the goal and one after. It could have been a very different game without those saves so a high rating is certainly justified here.

Emerson Royal (N/A): It was written in the stars. Less than two minutes into the game, he went down with an injury after a collision and had to be subbed off. It remains to be seen how this injury, if it actually is an injury, will affect his rumoured exit.

Gabbia (6.5): He sold himself a bit on a chance in the first half, more specifically van de Beek’s dribble, but played well after that. In addition to winning duels, he used his positioning in a good way to limit Girona’s attackers, especially with the game being quite open.

Pavlovic (7): The Serbian played his first game in a long time and responded in a brilliant fashion. He had to make up for a certain left-back, who wasn’t great in defence tonight, and was responsible for several great tackles and interceptions. He also wasn’t afraid to drive forward with the ball, even if his passing is still a mixed bag. But the defending, his man task, was really good tonight.

Hernandez (4.5): It was far from a good night for him. He missed a big chance in the first half which he had to score, and then he wasted another great one in the second. On Girona’s marginal offside goal, he failed to close down Gil and the away side created a lot on his flank tonight. He looked very sluggish and certainly lacked focus.

Bennacer (7): Great stuff from him tonight. He had a fantastic work-rate, as always, and it was a great interception as well as assist for Leao’s goal. This is the first time we have seen proper signs of the ‘Old Isma’ since he returned from the injury. He just needs to continue like this and he will be pivotal in Conceicao’s system.

Photo by AC Milan

Fofana (6.5): Conceicao clearly gave him a role to press high and even so, he tracked back nicely in many situations. He also made several interceptions and started a few counter-attacks by driving forward with the ball, setting up his teammates.

Musah (5.5): It was almost third time’s the charm for him. First, he missed a great chance to shoot himself as he opted to square it to absolutely no one. Then a similar chance arose, and this time it was right to pass but the hit wasn’t good enough. Finally, he struck a lovely effort which hit the inside of the post. Mistake before goal. The first half had ups and downs (mostly the latter), in other words, but he recovered in the second and was solid.

Reijnders (6.5): Not a spectacular display by any means, but he was very important in the pressing phase as he always worked hard. The Dutchman also combined well with his teammates on several occasions and after a couple of ‘slow games’, we finally saw some good runs forward from him as well. For example, he played a very nice pass to Leao, who then set up Theo’s big chance.

Leao (7.5 – MOTM): The Portuguese international was lively even before the goal as he made life difficult for Girona from the start. That being said, the goal was the main highlight with some really good dribbling and a powerful finish. It ended up being the winner as well, so the MOTM award feels right.

Morata (5.5): Once again, as seen in some games recently, he isn’t quick enough on the ball to capitalise on his good positioning at the start of attacks/counter-attacks. He also had a couple of tame shots that didn’t threaten the Girona keeper. There seems to be no upside at the moment, even in situations when he does something good it’s often followed by something bad (or vice versa).

Substitutes

Calabria (6): It’s really strange that Conceicao didn’t play from start, especially given the Emerson exit rumours. In any case, the former captain came on and played well, battling through some shoulder pain in the first half.

Abraham (5.5): He didn’t really have that many chances to do something up front, but the feeling is still that he could have done something more during his time on the pitch. After all, he got about 30 minutes.

Pulisic (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give a proper rating, but he looked good on the ball on a couple of occasions.

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