A five-goal thriller at the Artemio Franchi Stadium ended with Milan besting Fiorentina with an Hakan Calhanoglu goal to set the score at 3-2 after both sides alternatively took the lead. While many players shone among the Rossoneri lines, our Man of the Match is once again the eternal Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored one goal and hit the post twice – while playing for the full 90 minutes despite having just recovered from an injury.
Here are our player ratings for the Fiorentina – Milan clash on Sunday night:
Fiorentina XI
Bartlomiej Dragowski – 5.5
Less than one half of play for the Polish giant and that was not enough to keep his goal clean. He was slow to react on Ibrahimovic’s goal and was saved by the bar on the Swedish’s lob attempt.
Nikola Milenkovic – 5
Ibrahimovic is surely not the easiest opponent to fight, but conceding three goals and almost a fourth today is not the sign of a good performance.
German Pezzella – 5.5
Slightly better then Milenkovic. He fought, he tried, but didn’t succeed in bringing Fiorentina at least one point today.
Lucas Martinez Quarta – 5
He is the one to blame in the occasion of Ibrahimovic’s opening goal. He was not covering his position and his placement that kept the Swedish into play was dreadful.
Martin Caceres – 6
He covered his position well and neutralized Saelemaekers and Castillejo’s offenses, but was not that effective in helping Fiorentina offensively.
Giacomo Bonaventura – 6
A good game for Jack, as it normally happens to those who play against their former teams. He went close to score a magnificent equalizer, but his shot ended slightly above the bar.
Erick Pulgar – 7
A magician of free-kicks. His first and winning attempt found Donnarumma slightly late to react but his goal can be easily considered the goal of the month.
Gaetano Castrovilli – 6.5
A Genie in a bottle. He immediately understood that Diogo Dalot was the one to attack and created the occasion for the 1-1 goal. He was not as lucky in his second attempt, but it can’t be a coincidence that Fiorentina stopped being dangerous when he was substituted.
Valentin Eysseric – 6
Similar to Martin Caceres, he preferred to defend and neutralize Brahim Diaz and Calhanoglu than being a danger in attack.
Dusan Vlahovic – 6.5
Almost invisible, but he had the merit of producing an unbelievable assist for Ribery, who scored a goal that should have been more decisive for Fiorentina.
Franck Ribery – 6.5
In a battle of elderly strikers with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Frenchman decided not to lose and put his signature on this match with a fine goal.
Fiorentina Substitutes
Pietro Terracciano – 5
He was not lucky as Brahim Diaz tap-in and Hakan Chalanoglu’s goals were not possible to save.
Lorenzo Venuti – 5
He got into the game to neutralize the revamped Milan left wing, but after two minutes he completely lost Chalanoglu, gift-wrapping him a three-point goal.
Christian Kouamé – N/A
Josè Callejon – N/A
An energetic performance, but definitely not a game-changing substitution.
Video gol goal Erick Pulgar tiro libre free kick vs AC Milan Donnarumma pic.twitter.com/9E8h02eSdP
— Fútbol en 5 Minutos – YouTube (@Futbolen5) March 21, 2021
Milan XI
Gianluigi Donnarumma – 5.5
He made a big mistake on Pulgar’s golden effort, and couldn’t see Ribery’s shot for the 2-1 goal. Aside from that, he didn’t have much to do.
Diogo Dalot – 5.5
The weakest link of this Milan side. He didn’t necessarily have a horrible match, but the first Viola goal and almost all the dangers for Donnarumma came from his side and due to his errors.
Simon Kjaer – 7
A perfect defensive match as usual for the Dane, with the special bonus of “one-and-a-half” assist.
Fikayo Tomori – 7
His pairing with Simon Kjaer is working perfectly, and Alessio Romagnoli may not be happy about that. The former Chelsea man scored another flawless performance at the back.
Theo Hernandez – 6.5
A solid match from the French full back. He may not be Lucas Digne but can still represent a valid alternative for Didier Deschamps – according to at least three Serie A defenders out of four.
Sandro Tonali – 6.5
Ismael Bennacer may be back, but Sandro Tonali seems to have conquered his place in the center of the Rossoneri Midfield. Solid and focused as usual.
Franck Kessié – 6.5
Perhaps the Rossoneri fans should launch a crowdfunding campaign to clone him. He was absolutely perfect and always ready to both attack and protect his defenders
Alexis Saelemaekers – 6
Not his best match ever, but Alexis always does his job on the right side.
Hakan Calhanoglu – 6.5
Little by little, the Turk is getting back. He finally made it back to the scoresheet with a wonderful goal that gave Milan three more than needed points.
Brahim Diaz – 6.5
After a mediocre first half, the Spaniard finally managed to adjust his aim and hit the scorecard for the first time since October.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 7
God Zlatan is back, and so are Milan to winning ways. Ibra was almost perfect as only the crossbar could stop him twice and only after he had put the Rossoneri ahead early in the game.
Milan Substitutes
Ismael Bennacer – 6.5
The Algerian is finally back and his geometry skills helped Milan take another step towards a much-needed Champions league qualification.
Samu Castillejo – 6
A solid match from the Spaniard, who was more helpful in defensive than in the offensive phase.
Rade Krunic – N/A
Soualiho Meitè – N/A
39, 169 – Zlatan #Ibrahimovic, with 39 years and 169 days, is the oldest player to reach 15 goals in Serie A's history. Eternal.#FiorentinaMilan #SerieA pic.twitter.com/8r8rJFwIEh
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) March 21, 2021