Changes male all the difference: Player ratings from Cremonse-Milan from italian papers

AC Milan scored twice in the final minutes against Cremonese on Sunday to earn a win they were made to fight hard for.

Milan must have feared yet more dropped points against a side battling relegation when the scoreboard read 0-0 on 89 minutes. Then, Strahinja Pavlovic netted from a corner and Rafael Leao converted a counter-attack, so the Rossoneri ended up winning 2-0.

It is exactly the kind of response that was needed after taking one point from six in the home games versus Como and Parma, especially with the second derby of the season looming on Sunday night.

La Gazzetta dello Sport have their ratings from the game this morning, and they give Milan’s overall performance a 6.5 out of 10. Massimiliano Allegri’s management got a 7, as did the performance of the eventual match-winner Pavlovic. The player who struggled the most was Alexis Saelemaekers (5).

Scores of 6.5 went to Koni De Winter, Luka Modric, Niclas Füllkrug and Christopher Nkunku, three of whom had a hand in eventually breaking the deadlock and then sealing the game.

Mike Maignan, Fikayo Tomori, Youssouf Fofana, Adrien Rabiot, Davide Bartesaghi, Leao and Samuele Ricci got a 6. The wasteful Christian Pulisic only got a 5.

Corriere dello Sport gave Allegri a 6 for his management, while 6.5s went to Maignan, De Winter, Fofana, Modric and Leao, and the goal scorer Pavlovic was given a 7.

Passing grades (6) were awarded to Füllkrug, Ricci, Rabiot and Nkunku. Tomori, (5.5), Saelemaekers (5), Bartesaghi (5.5) and Pulisic (5) all struggled in the eyes of the paper.

Tuttosport praised Pavlovic (7.5), De Winter (6.5), Füllkrug (6.5), Modric (6.5), Nkunku (6.5) and Allegri (7). All the rest got a passing score except for Pulisic (5) and Saelemaekers (5.5).