Milan 1, Torino 0: Just Enough

After the amazing performance against Juventus in the Coppa Italia on Thursday, fans were waiting to see what the squad could do to follow it up. Would they be consistent with the new formation and mentality? If so, they should easily overpower a beleaguered Torino. Between injuries before and during the match, it turns out they did just enough.

More than enough

The first half started out looking good, with Milan immediately attacking. It wouldn’t be until the 25th minute, however, that Rebic would break the deadlock, with another nice assist from Castillejo. 1-0 Milan.

Good news turned to bad, however, when in the 42nd minute, Kjaer pulled up while heading a ball out and was unable to continue following treatment. Inexplicably, Pioli sent Gabbia on rather than Musacchio, offering no explanations postmatch, either. However, whatever the reason, it was a decent debut for the young center back and great that he got the chance.

The youngster stepped up when called upon

The second half had a lot of action, and Milan created some chances, but in the end, the one goal was the only shot on target for Milan, with only nine shots tallied in all. Still, it was refreshing to see them working together to make plays and create chances. Even with an underwhelming performance and some different players, there is so much progress.

Paqueta deputized for Calhanoglu, who had a muscle injury and was not called up for this match. The young Brazilian had some moments, but his performance wasn’t overly impressive. Gabbia’s performance was more impressive, including a nice offensive run forward right near the end of regulation. Leao was initially given quite a few chances, but Rebic has pretty much sealed that spot for himself now with his sixth goal in all competitions, all in this calendar year.

Captain + goalscorer + assist maker = so much love

After an intense battle on Thursday, this was an impressive performance for Milan teams of recent seasons. We are starting to expect more of this squad, but one goal was all that was needed to take all three points and boost Milan back up the table to eighth place. There were a  number of woefully missed chances, but in the end, it was just enough.

This post inspired by the music of The Cure’s “Never Enough”

Our next match is

Serie A Week 25

Fiorentina vs. Milan

Saturday, February 22 • 20:45 CET (2:45pm EST)