Out-of-form Roma left San Siro winless for the sixth game on the trot as Milan’s superb performance blew them out of the water. Without Jose Mourinho on the bench, Giallorossi slumped to a 3-1 defeat, losing further ground on the Serie A top four.
Amends for a morale-damaging 1-0 Coppa Italia loss to arch-rivals Lazio on Wednesday were supposed to be Roma’s driving force in Lombardy. However, Mourinho’s absence after being sent off against Atalanta last weekend landed a decisive psychological blow on toothless Giallorossi.
Despite enjoying a lively start to the game, Roma fell behind in the 11th minute as Yacine Adli’s simple dummy fooled the entire backline, leaving second-choice goalkeeper Mile Svilar helpless. Though the visitors contained the damage for the remainder of the first half, they never gained a foothold in the game during the opening 45 minutes.
Things went from bad to worse at the start of the second half. A hopeful cross to the far post caught Roma defenders off guard as Simon Kjaer headed the ball down for Olivier Giroud, who couldn’t miss from a couple of yards out.
Roma’s best spell came after Milan’s second. Second-half substitute Lorenzo Pellegrini drew a penalty to give Leandro Paredes a chance to get them back into the encounter. Despite beating Mike Maignan from the spot, the Argentine didn’t have the last laugh.
With the final whistle approaching, Milan restored a two-goal lead through Theo Hernandez. The highly-rated left-back launched a thunderbolt from the edge of the box to send Roma packing. Let’s look at our player ratings.
Roma (3-5-2)
Mile Svilar – 3.5
It’s not like he could’ve done much to stop any of Milan’s three goals, yet three of the home side’s five attempts on target finished in the back of the net.
Rasmus Kristensen – 4
Adli’s fake shot made him look like a second-tier defender, and he failed to regain confidence for the rest of the game, though he fared well against disjointed Rafael Leao.
Diego Llorente – 4.5
Caught napping in the 11th minute as his late mistimed tackle obstructed Svilar’s vision, while Giroud’s dominant aerial presence proved a nightmare for the Spaniard.
Gianluca Mancini – 5
Though the Roma captain held his ground in the first half, especially in physical duels against Giroud, he had to stay in the dressing room at halftime as the visitors sought a comeback.
Zeki Celik – 5.5
If anyone questioned Mourinho’s decision to bench the Turk for Rick Karsdorp in recent matches, tonight’s performance was the answer. To label him inconvincing would be an understatement.
Bryan Cristante – 5
He was part of the reason Roma spent most of the night on the back foot, utterly losing the midfield battle to Adli and Tijjani Reijnders.
Leandro Paredes – 6.5
It must be frustrating for the Argentine to end up on the losing side in his arguably best game since returning to the Stadio Olimpico.
Edoardo Bove – 4.5
Outmuscled, outrun, and outmaneuvered in virtually every duel against Adli, Reijnders, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Leonardo Spinazzola – 5.5
For an attacking-minded full-back, he spent too much time on his own half. It wasn’t entirely his fault, but he failed to take advantage of his few forays into the opposition’s half.
Stephan El Shaarawy – 5
A near-anonymous performance from the former Milan man! Trusted to fill Paulo Dybala’s shoes, the versatile forward succumbed to the pressure, doing nothing noteworthy before being subbed off.
Romelu Lukaku – 4
A horrible night for the Roma top scorer! Spent the entire game cut off from the rest of the pack without a single chance to test his scoring abilities.
Substitutes
Lorenzo Pellegrini – 7
Andrea Belotti – 5.5
Dean Huijsen – 6
Nicola Zalewski – 6
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