AC Milan vs. Torino: Winners and Losers from Serie A
AC Milan walked out of the tunnel at the San Siro on Saturday knowing they needed to beat Torino in order to keep pace in the standings with Roma, who had beaten Empoli earlier in the day.
Win they did, defeating the Granata 1-0 and staying six points behind Roma. If city rivals Inter lose to Juventus in Turin on Sunday, then AC Milan will only be one point behind their hated counterparts—and from the top five.
It was end-to-end stuff in the first half, with both teams seeing decent chances go begging. But it was Milan who finally took advantage when Juraj Kucka headed a corner down for Luca Antonelli to slam into the net for the game's only goal.
Both teams had a few opportunities in a slower second half, but the Rossoneri held onto their lead—an improvement over recent years when they were often guilty of capitulating from leading positions.
Who were the winners and losers from Saturday's clash at the San Siro? Let's take a closer look and find out.
Winner: Luca Antonelli
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Consistently one of Milan's best players since arriving in January of 2015, Antonelli raised his game again on Saturday and turned in a typically excellent performance.
The relationship between him and Giacomo Bonaventura on the left side is excellent. The two overlap effortlessly and put each other into dangerous situations with ease. It was no different on Saturday, as the left-back spent long stretches camped out on Torino's defensive right, looking to cross or to be an outlet for his teammates.
His goal was typical of his scoring efforts—the opportunity came from Kucka's header, and Antonelli put it away ruthlessly.
He also defended well. When he does make the odd mistake, it tends to be when he overcommits when an opponent has the ball at his feet. However, nine minutes in, he held his ground well and didn't allow the space for a through ball to Ciro Immobile, who was waiting to make a cutting run into the box.
Overall, according to WhoScored.com, Antonelli had three tackles, three interceptions and four clearances to go along with his goal. It was a man-of-the-match performance from a player who is making a serious case to go to France with the national team for Euro 2016.
Loser: Giampiero Ventura
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It's not often that a coach shows up in the loser section after a fairly even 1-0 game, but Giampiero Ventura needs to iron out some things in his team.
Specifically, Il Toro had major issues on set pieces. Milan was first to at least three corner kicks, including Antonelli's goal and another ball that Carlos Bacca put into the net, only to have the score called back for offside after Antonelli and Alex flicked the ball on.
Just before the half, Kucka was first to a rebound off the wall on a free kick, and his deflected effort led to the corner that produced the goal. A few minutes before that, M'Baye Niang got to another loose ball off a free kick, only to balloon over.
Torino was second to every ball from set plays. That shows a need to get back onto the training ground and fix the issues.
It also didn't help that Ventura waited only 12 minutes were left to make his first change when his team needed to chase an equalizer. He didn't get his initial choices wrong, but he certainly didn't make many adjustments after the fact.
Ventura is one of Italy's best coaches, but this wasn't one of his better days.
Winner: Cristian Zapata
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Cristian Zapata was a surprise starter on Saturday.
He had played well—his best game of the season, in fact—against Napoli on Monday in relief of Alessio Romagnoli, who missed the contest while recovering from the flu. It was expected that Romagnoli would resume his starting role in this game, but coach Sinisa Mihajlovic elected to keep him on the bench to have a little more recovery time.
Zapata has infuriated fans during his time at Milan. His form for the club as compared to his form for the Colombian national team has always been slightly lower. He makes too many simple mistakes, from losing his man to making bad passes. But on Saturday he had a second successive strong showing.
Zapata made pair of strong blocks in the game's early stages, dispossessed Immobile to trigger a run in the 16th minute and cleaned up after Andrea Belotti beat Alex a few minutes later. He did lose Immobile once in the 29th minute but did well to recover and force Immobile into an acute angle for his shot, which bounced off the side netting.
Playing for a contract in the summer, Zapata has suddenly come into an interesting run of form. The question now is whether he can crack the starting XI, which has had Romagnoli and Alex set in stone since the middle of November.
Loser: M'Baye Niang
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M'Baye Niang has been Bacca's strike partner since he returned from injury at the beginning of November. He's shown some signs of finally reaching his promise since, but in the last few weeks, he hasn't been as effective, and he was just plain bad at times in this game.
He had trouble holding the ball up, and his handle tended to be off. A heavy first touch on a cleared corner five minutes into the second half ended what could have been a promising counterattack before it began. Five minutes later he had the perfect chance to try to curl a shot into Daniele Padelli's far post but instead held the ball and made an extra pass; the end result was a wild shot from Kucka.
Niang also showed some of the immaturity that has occasionally plagued him in his career. With 20 minutes left, he pressured Torino defender Emiliano Moretti into giving away a throw in Milan's half and then moved over to straddle the former Italy international and followed him as he tried to crawl clear to get himself to his feet. It was no surprise when he was hauled off less than one minute later.
Niang has had bright moments this season, but on Saturday he looked more like the kid who missed in Barcelona than a dangerous part of Milan's attack.
Winner: Ciro Immobile
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After wandering the wilderness at Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla for the last year-and-a-half, Immobile has returned to Torino, where he was the top scorer in Serie A two seasons ago. Some home cooking seems to have invigorated him.
Immobile has scored three times since his return, and on Saturday he was the most dangerous player Torino had on the field. According to WhoScored.com, he put two of three shots on target and made a key pass.
The former Juventus prospect nearly pulled out a fantastic opener in the 14th minute when Gianluigi Donnarumma had come out to smother a run in his box. Immobile pounced on the loose ball and floated it in, only to see the 17-year-old backpedal and punch his effort away with one hand.
Donnarumma was again alert with about 20 minutes left, when he made a smart save to his left on a stinging volley.
Immobile didn't manage any goals, but he continued the resuscitation of his career with a good performance.
Loser: Andrea Bertolacci
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Playing in the stead of the suspended Riccardo Montolivo, Andrea Bertolacci had a chance to force his way past Kucka and back into the lineup on Saturday, but he failed to seize it.
He didn't play particularly badly, but he didn't do anything special enough to make an impression, and his decision-making in the attacking third was spotty. Three times he had the opportunity to either shoot or put a teammate through in the second half and held the ball too long every single time. It was like the game was moving too fast for him to decide what to do.
You have to feel bad for Bertolacci, because the outlandish fee that Milan vice president Adriano Galliani paid for him this summer put expectations on him that he isn't equipped to meet. He's good, but he's not a €20 million player, and he probably never will be.
At the moment, Montolivo and Kucka are simply playing better. Unless Bertolacci picks up his game, he's not going to see the starting XI often between now and May.
