AC Milan picked up an impressive 3-1 away win at Hellas Verona in what was an impressive performance for the Rossoneri.
Rafa Marques opened the scoring with a spectacular own goal before a Keisuke Honda double salvo put the visitors 3-0 up before Nico Lopez nabbed a consolation at the end for the Mastini.
What do you think of out ratings? Let us know in the comments section below.
Hellas Verona
Rafael – 5 -Unremarkable
Solid enough in net and not at fault for the goals but looked slightly uncomfortable at times dealing with the odd high ball into the area.
Evangelos Moras – 4 – Disappointing
Not the Greek’s greatest performance. Didn’t look as composed on the ball as he has in previous games and he was unable to stop the Scaligeri’s defence from opening up on the counterattack.
Rafa Marquez – 4 – Steady
Did a solid enough job at the heart of a shaky back three and kept working until the final whistle. Looked the most alert of all the Mastini’s defenders when the visitors ran at the back line with pace. Unfortunately spoiled it all by getting sent off needlessly in injury time.
Rafa Marques – 3.5 – Nightmare
It wasn’t the Brazilian defender’s day after he broke the deadlock with a spectacular own goal and was then caught napping to let Honda in for the second.
Alesssandro Agostini – 3 – AWOL
Was nowhere to be seen for the opening two goals. Didn’t offer enough going forward as a full-back to help the defenders clear the ball from danger and launch attacks of their own.
Adrian Ionita – 4 – One-dimensional
Carried out the odd eye-catching run from defence but the Moldovan’s defensive positioning was called into question at times and allowed the Rossoneri to open the Gialloblu up on the counterattack.
Panagiotis Tachtsidis – 4.5 – Laboured
The big greek midfielder displayed his presence in the heart of midfield but didn’t look sharp and looked uncomfortable when pressed.
Emil Hallfredsson – 6 – Valiant
Managed to test the the Milan defenders on multiple occasions and carry the ball out of defence to launch counter-attacks. Kept the ball well but needed more support from his teammates.
Juanito Gomez – 4 – Anonymous
Didn’t test the full-backs down the right flank and was understandably hauled off after an hour. Fired one of the Verona’s best chances straight at the keeper.
Bosko Jankovic – 4.5 – Ineffective
The game largely passed the midfielder by as he looked isolated out on the left flank and lost the ball one too times and his long-range shots were poor. This understandably prompted Mandorlini to replace him with Campanharo.
Luca Toni – 5.5 – Frustrating
The big striker won headers and held the ball up nicely and Abbiati frustrated him on occasions. However, he found it difficult to open up enough space to get away shots and Milan’s defence found it comfortable enough to crowd him out of the game.
Substitutes
Campanharo – 4.5 – Absent
Replaced Jankovic after 67 minutes but was barely noticeable
Nene – 6 – Improvement
Came on for Gomez after 69 minutes and provided a little more threat. Made a nuisance of himself in the box but arguably should have scored after getting on the end of a Toni knock-down to make it 3-2.
Lopez – 6.5 – Bright
Looked threatening with his pace but lacked the imagination and quality to pick out the final ball at times. Made up for that at the end with a well-taken goal.
AC Milan
Christian Abbiati – 7 – Resolute
The goalkeeper made a fair amount of saves considering how comfortable the win was for the visitors and did a great job to nullify the Verona attack when they applied a good deal of pressure towards the end of the first half.
Mattia De Sciglio – 5 – Enough
Solid at the back but the full-back didn’t show a huge amount going forwards.
Adil Rami – 6 – Solid
A no-nonsense performance at the heat of the defence that kept Toni and co under wraps.
Alex – 7 – Miserly
A very strong performance from the veteran defender. Towering headers, brave blocks and tough tackles and showed signs of a blossoming partnership with Rami. Out of the players in the Rossoneri line-up he has the most right to be annoyed the clean sheet wasn’t preserved.
Ignazio Abate – 6 – Acceptable
Did what was needed of him and tracked back and worked hard running up the line. Struggled to offer huge amounts going forwards but he did the minimum of what is required of him and he did it well.
Michael Essien- 6 – Gritty
The midfielder put in a solid shift protecting the back line and played simple football that allowed the more creative players to get on the ball quickly.
Andrea Poli – 5.5 – Stout
The midfielder did a solid job getting the ball up to the front line and he coped well with the hustle and bustle of centre midfield. Perhaps not his most technically spectacular performance but he helped the team.
Sulley Muntari – 5 – Fiery
Ran around and looked busy and gave the Verona players someone to worry about when in possession.Benefitted from not trying to smash the ball in from long-range as often as in the past.
Fernando Torres – 6.5 – Encouraging
The Spanish striker’s linked up nicely with the two wide men by his side. An intelligent and selfless performance that brought the best out of the side. Didn’t have the chances to grab the goal that he possibly deserved but helped the team with his contribution.
Keisuke Honda – 7.5 – Clinical
Didn’t contribute a huge amount to the build-up play but took his two clear-cut chances perfectly and made the most of every bit of space he was left by the Verona defenders.
Stephan El Shaarawy – 6 – Altruistic
The attacking midfielder posed a real threat when running at pace. Didn’t take people on as much as he perhaps could have but the Italian put in an intelligent and altruistic display that was rightly praised by Inzaghi.
Substitutes
Jeremy Menez – 5 – Stroll
Replaced Torres after 69 minutes and did little as the game was all but won.
Giacamo Bonaventura – N/A
Came on for El Sharaawy after 77 minutes
Daniele Bonera – N/A
An 85th minute sub for Honda.
