AC Milan V. Fiorentina: Milan Player Ratings

The reigning Serie A champions, AC Milan, returned to league action Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, their league result was similar to that of their disappointing Champions League exit at the hands of Barcelona. 

In the end, the Rossoneri was defeated 2-1 by Fiorentina at the San Siro. Milan had come into the day in first place, while Fiorentina was rooted near the relegation zone in 17th. 

As a whole, the club never got into the free flowing style they have showed for much of the season. What resulted was a side unable to break down a defense that had given up 38 goals at the beginning of the day. Fiorentina's rearguard proved too difficult for the Rossoneri to breakdown.

The loss marked the end of Milan's reign at the top of the Serie A table, as the club's defeat coupled with Juventus' win relegated the Milan club to second place. The result puts the Scudetto back in the sights of of the Bianconeri and sees the defending champions grip on the title loosen. 

Here is how Milan's players fared during their defeat to the Viola.

Christian Abbiati, Goalkeeper: 6.5

Christian Abbiati started the match fantastic, though as the game went on he didn't receive much help from his defense. 

Abbiati kept Fiorentina off the scoreboard early on with a great diving save to his left. The save preserved the Rossoneri's 1-0 lead. He again kept Milan from giving up a goal in the 67th minute when he saved a Stevan Jovetic 20-yard strike.

Unfortunately, Milan's defense—Philippe Mexes to be exact—was of no help to Abbiati, as the team's poor defending resulted in Abbiati being beaten twice. 

Neither goal was the Italian's fault, and he nearly kept both out of the back of the net.

Ignazio Abate, Right-Back: 6.5

Unlike in midweek against Barcelona, Abate wasn’t caught in possession resulting in counter attacks by the opposition.

He didn’t offer much going forward, but kept the left side of Fiorentina’s attack at bay. The Viola couldn't make inroads on his side and it was Milan's opposite side that offered Fiorentina its best chances at goal. 

Daniele Bonera, Centre Back: 5.5

Daniele Bonera defended well for nearly the entire 90 minutes and his distribution from the back was quite good.

He never seemed to be in too much trouble, until late in the match when centre back partner Philippe Mexes made crucial mistakes.

It was Mexes' ridiculous attempt to head a kick from Fiorentina goalkeeper Arturo Boruc that allowed Fiorentina to get the late winner. Mexes' terrible decision left Bonera out to dry as he had to defend against two Viola attackers. 

Philippe Mexes, Centre Back: 4.5

Mexes was partially at fault for Fiorentina’s first goal. He seemed to expect another Milan defender to pick up Jovetic, who continued his run through Milan’s defense. It looked like Sulley Muntari was the man who failed to pick up the Fiorentina attack, and Jovetic went clean through. 

Again Mexes was at fault when Amauri streaked towards goal in the second half, but the shot was cleared by the Frenchman.

It was Mexes, however, that missed the header Amauri then controlled and played a one-two with Jovetic to net the winner. A truly poor second half for the Frenchman.

Thiago Silva is greatly missed.

Gianluca Zambrotta, Left-Back: 6.0

Gianluca Zambrotta, though a right-back, filled in on the left for the Rossoneri due to an injury to Luca Antonini. The Italian was steady throughout the match, though the 35-year-old tired late on.

Fiorentina chose to attack Zambrotta's side more often as the game wore on. In the end, these attacks resulted in very little and Zambrotta continued to get the better of the Viola's right side.

Zambrotta added to the Milan's attack and put in several decent crosses that were ultimately turned away for corners. 

He was replaced by Antonio Cassano in the 84th minute as Milan attempted to get all three points. Unfortunately, they conceded a second time five minutes later. 

Sulley Muntari, Midfield: 4.5

Sulley Muntari was a brilliant signing in the January transfer window. However, his excellent form earlier this year has faded and his performance against Fiorentina was sub-par at best. 

The Ghanaian continually gave the ball away in the midfield and made numerous passes that missed their intended target. He was also guilty of losing the ball under challenge from Fiorentina's defenders.

He failed to pick up Jovetic’s run that led to Fiorentina’s first goal, though that was partially the fault of Mexes.

Muntari was the weakest link in the Milan midfield and in the 88th minute he blew a perfect counter attack when he tried a Hollywood pass down field that went straight to Fiorentina keeper Boruc. Boruc then punted the ball back down field leading to the go-ahead goal for the Viola.

Massimo Ambrosini, Midfield: 5.5

Massimo Ambrosini will be out of contract in the summer and his play over the past month has been the best he has shown in a while. He played excellently against Barcelona in the Champions League, but yesterday the Italian's performance was that of a tired footballer.

Ambrosini never did too much with the ball and he regularly got stuck into challenges, though he was never able to boss the midfield on the day. This was obviously due to his fatigue.

After Milan gave up the equalizer in the 47th minute, Ambrosini was replaced by Alberto Aquilani. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to improve the Rossoneri. 

Antonio Nocerino, Midfield: 5.0

The Italian midfielder was on the pitch for the full 90 minutes, however, he never did anything of note during that time. Nocerino was anonymous for much of the match and while that meant he never made a defensive mistake that was apparent, he never offered anything going forward.

He drifted in and—mostly—out of the match. Nocerino did keep the left side of Fiorentina's attack at bay along with Abate.

After playing four matches in 15 days, Nocerino had to be on fumes by the end of this match. 

Urby Emanuelson, Midfield: 5.0

Urby Emanuelson has developed into a highly capable trequartista, but he is still learning the role. He gave two different performances in each of the halves yesterday.

In the first half, the Dutchman was lively and active. His movement was good, and he worked hard to combine with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Maxi Lopez.

He faded out of the game after halftime, however. Emanuelson made absolutely no impact in the second period and it was no surprise he was replaced just after the hour mark.

Maxi Lopez, Striker: 5.5

Maxi has been a bit of a revelation since joining the club on loan and may just get that full contract at the end of the season.

Against Fiorentina, he had a good game—not great—and he didn’t get a lot of touches on the ball. That can be expected playing in a side with players as dominate as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho.

Maxi did well tracking back when Fiorentina was in possession, and his work rate when Fiorentina's defenders had the ball was excellent.

He won Milan's penalty—which was a bit of a gift in the vein of last week’s penalty Alessandro Nesta gave to Barcelona—that Ibrahimovic scored. 

He should have made it 2-0 when he chested down a pass from Ibra and hit it on the half volley, only for it to rebound off the far post. If he had scored that goal, the game would have been done and dusted.

Quite a surprise that he lasted the entire 90 minutes. His good play warranted the extended run out and even if Milan pass on his signature, he should find a good home next season.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Striker: 7.0

Ibrahimovic was fantastic on the day and he controlled the match at times, but he just couldn't grab the game by the scruff of the neck.

Ibrahimovic dropped deep to get the ball when service wasn’t coming to him and created chances for himself and others once he got the ball.

The Swede directed traffic and showed his leadership on the pitch throughout the match. He made excellent runs throughout the 90 minutes and kept the team in possession of the ball even under heavy challenges from the Viola defense. He scored the penalty that Maxi won, and it looked like Milan would cruise. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

His only fault of the day was his terrible decision to shoot, possibly cross, from 30 yards as Milan was on a four on two counter attack late in the game.

Alberto Aquilani, Midfield: 5.0

Alberto Aquilani replaced Ambrosini in the 53rd minute, after Fiorentina had equalized. The Italian took up position deep in the midfield as a deep laying playmaker. 

There was one occasion when Aquilani was nearly caught in possession on the edge of Milan's 18-yard box. Luckily, a foul was called and the Viola's attack was extinguished.

Aquilani never took control of the match like manager Massimiliano Allegri expected and the midfielder was guilty of giving away too many passes. Within the final third, he tried playing the perfect pass too often and each time his pass was picked off.

Robinho, Striker: 4.75

The Brazilian replaced Urby Emanuelson just after the hour mark. Robinho and Ibrahimovic combine the best of Milan's strikers, but the two couldn't breakdown Fiorentina's defense.

Robinho didn't make the contributions Maxi did during the match and he failed to do much during his 28-minute cameo. He was able to string a few passes together, but ultimately Robinho was unable to fully get into the match. 

Antonio Cassano, Striker: 5.0

Antonio Cassano made his return to the Rossoneri after being out of action since last November, when he underwent heart surgery. The Italian is obviously still working on his fitness and his introduction in the 84th minute was Allegri's attempt to nick a goal late and the win.

It looked like Cassano had won the Milan club a penalty in the fourth minute of injury time. Unfortunately, referee Celi didn't see it the same as the rest of the San Siro. He waved play on and the Milan club left without a point.

Cassano looked lively in his limited time of action and if he can figure into the remaining seven matches of the season, it could propel the club to it's second consecutive Scudetto.

Unfortunately, Juventus has hit form just at the right time and after Milan's elimination from the Champions League, the Old Lady of Italian football may cruise to their 28th title.