Player ratings: Cremonese 0-2 Milan – Rossoneri grind out another win
Strahinja Pavlovic was the star of the show for Milan as they recorded a late, late 2-0 victory away against Cremosnee in Serie A on Sunday afternoon. Here are the player ratings after a tightly-contested affair at the Stadio Giovanni Zini.
Goals from Pavlovic in the 90th minute and a second from Rafael Leao in the fourth minute of stoppage time helped Milan on their way to an important 2-0 victory, which puts them back within 10 points of league leaders Inter ahead of the Derby della Madonnina next weekend.
You can see how the action from Cremonese 0-2 Milan unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.
Cremonese 0-2 Milan: Player ratings!
Cremonese: Audero 7; Folino 6.5, Luperto 6, Bianchetti 6 (Terracciano 6); Zerbin 5.5 (Barbieri 6), Thorsby 6.5, Vandeputte 6 (Grassi n/a), Maleh 6, Pezzella 6; Bonazzoli 6, Vardy 5 (Djuric 6).
Best Cremonese player: Emil Audero 7 – A particularly impressive first-half performance with huge saves to deny both Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic one-on-one. Cremonese could have found themselves two down before the interval had it not been for those stops. Six saves in total for the Cremo keeper.
Coach: Davide Nicola 6.5 – Despite the Leao and Pulisic chances, Nicola will have been largely pleased with what he saw from his side before the final few moments. This was a fairly evenly contested affair, which is encouraging for a team ranked 17th up against the team that currently sits in second. There will be obvious disappointment with the way in which Cremonese lost the game: From a set-piece in the 90th minute which led to their unravelling again a few minutes later.
Milan: Maignan 6; Tomori 6 (Athekame 6), De Winter 6.5, Pavlovic 7, Saelemaekers 5.5 (Fullkrug 6), Fofana 6.5 (Ricci 6), Modric 6.5, Rabiot 6, Bartesaghi 6; Leao 6, Pulisic 5 (Nkunku 6.5).
Best Milan player: Strahinja Pavlovic 7 – A solid defensive shift from the Serbian, who completed 100% of his three attempted tackles – Only Giuseppe Pezzella (four) completed more. He also made two clearances and one interception before scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute to hand Milan all three points. Pavlovic is now up to three goals for the season in Serie A: His highest ever seasonal goal tally.
Coach: Massimiliano Allegri 6 – This is a season where Milan continue to grind out results, and given their troubles last campaign, a second place finish and a spot in the Champions League would be a solid return for Allegri in his first season back in charge. The reality of watching Milan as they grind out these results is not always the prettiest scenario, which was again the case against Cremonese. Still, a solid three points and one step closer to that final goal that Allegri keeps referring to.