It’s been a tough few weeks for Milan in Serie A with their last win coming against Genoa back at the beginning of October. Two losses and two draws followed, making the game against Fiorentina a must-win.
Stefano Pioli had to deal with a lot of injuries and absences, with Rafael Leao, Olivier Giroud and Noah Okafor all not available for the game causing the coach to call up 15-year-old Francesco Camarda to the squad, who has been doing wonders for the Primavera.
Christian Pulisic, Luka Jovic and Samuel Chukwueze were the front three and they were not the most productive since the trio have barely played with each other and the chemistry was just not there. That and the fact that Jovic and Chukwueze are yet to impress meant that Milan did not get plenty of chances and had to be clinical when they did, which has been an issue for them this season.
Fortunately for Pioli, In the dying minutes of the first half Jovic played a lovely ball through to Theo Hernandez, who won a penalty for his team which he converted. While Milan struggled up front, the backline seemed solid enough as they finally got that clean sheet, which they hadn’t had since that Genoa game.
Mike Maignan proved to be crucial as he made a save in the dying minutes of the game to seal the win for his team. Here are five things we learned from the game…
1. Struggles continue despite reinforcements
There was a lot of positivity around the summer transfer window and it was probably justified since Milan brought a lot of players in, especially in the attack where quality was lacking in the starting XI and on the bench.
However, despite the management’s best attempts only one player has really raised the bar and that has to be Pulisic, who has picked up four goals and two assists with some crucial contributions.
On the flip side, Jovic and Chukwueze could well be considered flops since the Nigerian was the most expensive summer signing and is yet to produce a strong performance. Jovic also falls in the same category, but on the plus side he came for a low fee and with low expectations.
And finally, Okafor – who has had some very good moments – but never seemed to get playing time continuity from Pioli and excluding a few games hasn’t really established himself in the team.
So obviously with Leao and Giroud missing we again saw Milan struggling up front and something must change, because this dependence has been there for too long.
2. The hero of the night
If we’re looking objectively at the game, Milan were not the dominant side or the more dangerous side. Fiorentina dominated possession in the second half, especially in the final minutes, and had double the shots compared to their opponent.
The only difference on the pitch was Maignan with the goalkeeper proving why he is one of the best in the world, making a couple of saves before and one huge stop in the dying minutes – with his head – to keep a clean sheet and secure the win.
The Frenchman aside, Milan were struggling to keep up with Fiorentina with a lot of players having underwhelming performances. That is what having one of the elite players in his role means though, and it is no surprise to read about planned renewal talks.
3. Tale of two sides
Theo and Davide Calabria had very contrasting performances on the night. The Frenchman scored the goal which proved to be the match-winning one and also involved himself a lot in the attacking phase, but struggled a lot in the defensive phase of the game.
Calabria, on the other hand, was solid at the back as he has been in recent months, but failed to make the impact going forward he found himself in a dangerous position on a couple of occasions but failed to be precise with his crossing.
The Italian should have picked his head up to assess his options a bit more, and if he had made the right decisions he would’ve helped his team get a much-needed second goal to calm things down. Juxtaposing performances from the full-backs, who must improve for the crucial Champions League clash against Dortmund.
.@TheoHernandez is the only defender to have scored at least two goals in each of the last five Serie A seasons, the second in the ‘top five’ European leagues in the period, after Achraf Hakimi.
[via @OptaPaolo] pic.twitter.com/QLLgqzClmu
— MilanData📊 (@acmilandata) November 26, 2023
4. Midfield missing in action
With Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Rade Krunic absent from the starting XI, Pioli fielded Yunus Musah, Tijjani Reijnders and Tommaso Pobega which probably wasn’t what he was hoping for and it showed.
Surprisingly Musah started the game very slowly and was sloppy for the whole first half and eventually picked up the pace a bit, but was still an average performance.
Pobega also struggled a lot as he was a tad slow although he had a few good moments including a header which troubled the goalkeeper. He also helped a lot with his physicality in the second half to win some key battles.
Reijnders was probably the only positive out of the three. He also started a bit subdued, but grew into the game and was the best of the trio. Fortunately for Pioli, Loftus-Cheek helped a lot defensively when he came off the bench to add some steel.
5. History was made
There was at least one thing for the Rossoneri fans to look forward to amid all the injury troubles and that being Camarda’s debut. The youngster was called up to the game due to Giroud and Okafor being out, and whilst it wasn’t a given that he would get his debut everybody was anticipating the moment.
That very moment came in the final 10 minutes when Pioli replaced Jovic with Camarda, making him the youngest Serie A debutant ever at 15 years and 8 months. The game was also far from finished since Fiorentina were pushing and Milan had to defend a narrow 1-0 lead.
At 15 years and 260 days, #ACMilan striker Francesco Camarda is the youngest debutant in Serie A history.
[via @OptaPaolo] pic.twitter.com/XvSI5IPEkN
— MilanData📊 (@acmilandata) November 25, 2023
This decision arguably highlights how highly Pioli rates the teenager and his mentality and while he had little contact with the ball, it was a great night for him. He couldn’t hide his smile, and his parents were rightly overwhelmed with emotion.