Player Ratings: Napoli 2-1 AC Milan – Joao Felix confusion; Jovic shows quality | OneFootball

AC Milan failed to clinch what would have been a big win away at Napoli on Sunday evening. Several players failed to impress and below are the ratings for the Rossoneri.

If you haven’t already, make sure to check out how we decide the player ratings. From the scale to what affects the rating, we have compiled everything there.

Starting XI

Maignan (6): He could do absolutely nothing about the goals, with his colleagues leaving big gaps in defence. The passing was decent from the goalkeeper, so despite two goals conceded it’s certainly not on him.

Walker (4.5): The whole defence was poor, but he was certainly at fault on the second goal, following Buongiorno’s run fully – thus playing Lukaku onside – despite the fact that Milan had a high line at the time. A big mistake for a player with his experience. He had a couple of decent runs forward but then couldn’t get the crosses right.

Gabbia (5): In the battle with Lukaku, he didn’t look at all secure and lost duels against the striker as a result. There was nothing as far as passing goes either, which is becoming a problem for the Italian, especially today when Thiaw wasn’t on the pitch.

Pavlovic (4.5): Even though he was following Lukaku and not Politano, his positioning was still way off on the first goal and it’s what gave the winger so much space. He also misplaced a lot of passes in that first half, rushing things for no reason. He got a bit better in the second half and while he did have some good contributions in attack, that’s not where Milan need him above all.

Hernandez (6.5): He certainly could have done better on the first goal, realising the run too late, even if it was more in Pavlovic’s lane. That being said, he had several good runs forward and was decent overall in defence. He won the penalty after a one-two with Leao and then got the assist for Jovic after another one-two with the winger.

Photo by AC Milan

Bondo (5.5): He was subbed off after the first half but to be honest, he wasn’t the problem for Milan. In fact, he was okay in possession and also won some free-kicks. Of course, you could also make the argument that he didn’t really add much to the game, while Napoli found a lot of space in the Rossoneri’s midfield area in the first half.

Fofana (5.5): The first half was something to forget for the Frenchman, seeing as Milan failed to establish any sort of play in the middle of the pitch, but the second half was a lot better. Especially in the final 20 minutes or so, he did well in winning back balls and finding the right passes.

Pulisic (5): It was a tough game for all of the attackers, really, but the winger needed to do a lot more on his right flank. He never lacks the effort, of course, but he was more or less ice cold on the ball today and also didn’t get to take the penalty (why?).

Reijnders (5): Towards the end, as Milan pushed for an equaliser, we saw some good things from him but overall, he played below his standard. There were some poor touches in there tonight and he also failed to hit the target a couple of times, from good shooting positions.

Joao Felix (4.5): The master of adding nothing, or at least very little, to the game. We have seen it so many times before this season and tonight was no different.

Abraham (5): Some decent runs and headers won from him tonight, but ultimately he didn’t have the impact he wanted. Milan had some moments where dangerous chances could have been created but the striker’s hold-up play wasn’t good enough.

Substitutes

Leao (6.5): Everything changed when he came on. He immediately linked up with Theo, as we have seen so many times before, and it resulted in the penalty as well as Jovic’s goal. Yes, Rafa certainly could have been more composed in one, two or even three situations, but it’s equally true that he was involved in the dangerous chances. The decision to bench him was baffling.

Photo by AC Milan

Gimenez (4.5): First, he missed a good chance after a nice counter-attack by Milan and then, he squandered the penalty. The Rossoneri needed a goal then, even if they at least had the opportunity to push for an equaliser later on. The striker’s disappointing last few weeks thus continued.

Chukwueze (6): Compared to Pulisic, who really didn’t add much as said, the Nigerian was involved a lot and had some good contributions. Milan pushed forward at the time so the winger did see a lot of the ball, but you still have to do something good with it.

Jovic (7 – MOTM): A classic No.9 goal, finding the right position in the box and slotting it home. It looked easy, but it certainly isn’t. In addition to that, he dropped down on a few occasions and made the right decisions on the ball. He also had one shot just wide after the first goal.

Jimenez (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.