Player Ratings: Empoli 2-2 AC Milan

Date: 23rd January 2016 at 11:34pm
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Empoli drew 2-2 with AC Milan at the Stadio Carlo Castellani on Saturday evening.

The Rossoneri opened the scoring through the in-form Carlos Bacca in the eighth minute of match after he sprung the Azzurri’s offside trap, before the Colombian produced a powerful finish.

Empoli worked their way back into the match after that early setback they equalised through a crisp finish from Piotr Zielinski in the 32nd minute.

In the second-half Milan once again took the lead through Giacomo Bonaventura in the 48th minute, after a clearance cannoned off the head of M’Baye Niang and into Bonaventura’s path. Yet, Empoli responded once again through Massimo Maccarone in the 61st minute to seal a point for Florence based side.

Agree with our ratings? Have your say in the comments box below.

Empoli

Lukasz Skorupski -5.5- Inconsistent

The former Roma man was let down by his defence for Bacca’s opener. However, he went to ground to early to stop Bonaventura from scoring Milan’s second.

Vincent Laurini -5.5- Desperate

Despite being eager to get forward, Laurini often found himself outnumbered two against one as Luca Antonelli drove forward. He also struggled to deal with Bonaventura’s trickery.

Federico Barba -6- Ordinary

The Italian took a risk trying to play offside for Milan’s first goal and payed for it. However, his performance improved greatly after this early mistake.

Lorenzo Tonelli -6.5- Unremarkable

The man linked with Napoli was composed for most of the first-half and in the second-half managed to silence Bacca and the enigmatic Mario Balotelli.

Mario Rui -7- Vigorous

Like his full-back partner, Rui was very determined to support his attack but he also managed to deal with Keisuke Honda’s presence, stopping many of his runs.

Raffaele Maiello -6- Average

Composed on the ball throughout the match, Maiello produced a capable performance, though nothing particularly special.

Riccardo Saponara -7.5- Possessed

The highly-rated Italian produced an excellent through ball to assist Empoli’s first and was a constant inspiration with his exuberant runs and incisive passing.

Marcel Buchel -6.5- Industrious

Kept the ball well for Empoli and helped set the rhythm of their attack, the Austrian churned through a lot of work both defensively and in terms of keeping the ball.

Piotr Zielinski –7.5- Stunning

The agile midfielder scored a delightful goal, placed through the legs of Gianluigi Donnarumma to cap off a strong and dynamic midfield performance.

Manuel Pucciarelli -5- Poor

Pucciarelli was rather anonymous for most of the first-half, and in the second-half his quiet performance did not improve despite Empoli’s dominance.

Massimo Maccarone -6.5- Decent

Frustrated in the opening 45 minutes as Alex marshalled him well, the man nicknamed ‘Big Mac’ showed good movement and anticipation to score on the rebound.

Substitutes

Daniele Croce -6.5- Crisp

Increased the intensity of Empoli’s game almost as soon as he entered the field of play with his dynamic and swift passing, but unfortunately couldn’t make a decisive impact on the match.

Marko Livaja -6.5- Adept

Added a much needed physical presence up-front for Empoli and was able to link-up the Azzurri’s play successfully around the penalty area.

Rade Krunic -N/A-

On for just five minutes.

AC Milan

Gianluigi Donnarumma -5- Culpable

Though the youngster was not at fault for Zielinski’s goal, he was to blame for Maccarone’s as he pushed the ball straight into the path of the veteran striker.

Ignazio Abate -6.5- Driven

The Italian international produced a solid performance producing some powerful runs forward as well as making sure he was not caught out defensively.

Alex -6.5- Dominant

Managed to control the sometimes devilish Maccarone in the first-half, before he was mysteriously substituted at half-time.

Alessio Romagnoli -6.5- Dutiful

The Italian showed good anticipation throughout and was not to blame for either goal. His distribution was also key to starting numerous forays forward by Milan.

Luca Antonelli -6.5- Energetic

The former Genoa man was was rather lucky to get an assist for the first goal, but overall his performance was strong as he probed the Empoli defence with some challenging crosses.

Riccardo Montolivo -5.5- Tired

Montolivo struggled as Milan’s deepest midfielder as he often had too many men to mark. Moreover, the younger legs of Saponara and Zielinski made the Italian’s night uncomfortable.

Andrea Bertolacci -6- Fine

Did his fair bit of defensive work as he tried to help out Montolivo, but still the Roma youth product looked way off his best as his performance lacked nuance going forward.

Keisuke Honda -5.5- Lukewarm

The Japanese international produced a tepid performance in the first-half and in the second-half apart from a couple of driven runs, his lacklustre display continued.

Giacomo Bonaventura -7.5- Virtuoso

The in-form Italian was once again excellent producing one brilliant finish and numerous problems for Laurini at right-back. His trickery made Laurini’s night very unpleasant.

M’Baye Niang -6- Lucky

Niang worked hard for much of the match and also claimed an extremely fortuitous assist, having a clearance smack of his face and into the path of Bonaventura. However, apart from this the Frenchman was subdued.

Carlos Bacca -6.5- Sound

Emphatically opened the scoring within the first 10 minutes, Bacca was a menace in the first-half, however his influence waned in the second.

Substitutes

Christian Zapata -7- Concentrated

Unusually, the Colombian calm and collected for most of his time on the pitch and was also not to blame for Maccarone’s goal.

Mario Balotelli -5- Lucklustre

Brought on for the quiet Niang, the much maligned Italian was rather disappointing as he failed to have an effect on the game.

Kevin-Prince Boateng -N/A –

On for just five minutes.

 

2 responses to “Player Ratings: Empoli 2-2 AC Milan”

  1. FERBAN says:

    Another example of Milan not being good enough. Galliani needs to go.

    Hopefully Conte was watching and realises he needs to take the likes of Saponara and Bonaventura over Montolivo in the summer. But I doubt he will. Too stuck in his ways.