Milan win despite a penalty awarded by VAR: Allegri has done better in 30 games than Fonseca and Coincecao in 38
Milan have overtaken Napoli to reclaim second place and closed the gap on leaders Inter to five points – a theoretical margin pending Inter’s away trip to Florence. The win over Torino was hard-fought in the first half and marred towards the end by a penalty invented by VAR, awarded for a mere brush of Pavlovic against Simeone. “Light touch”, you read that right: not a slap. So the Rossoneri endured a nervy final few minutes, but still deserved the victory that takes them to 63 points after 30 games – the same number they managed to amass in the entire league campaign a year ago.
A few thoughts on the individual players, starting with Maignan, who was spot-on in every situation and nothing short of miraculous midway through the second half. However, he was unlucky to concede the goal and powerless to prevent the penalty that sealed the 3-2 defeat. In defence, Tomori was booked early on and consequently held back; he was replaced in the second half by the more enterprising Athekame. De Winter was outwitted by Simeone’s burst of speed for the temporary 1-1, whilst Pavlovic was dangerous with his head and lethal with his feet, scoring the goal that gave the Rossoneri a temporary lead. It’s hard to judge his gentle touch on Simeone, which gave VAR the opportunity to award a surreal penalty.
In midfield, Saelemakers was lively as usual. Fofana, however, was a mixed bag: full of energy on the right side of the pitch early on, but ineffective in the box. On the other side, Bartesaghi was too reserved. As usual, Milan’s fate hinged on the performances of Modric and Rabiot. The Croatian and the Frenchman did a lot, perhaps too much. In the first half, they found no support or involvement from the rest of the team. In the second half, they crafted the second goal with class (and with Pulisic’s involvement), the one that allowed Rabiot to celebrate for the first time at San Siro and the team to proceed with relief towards victory.
Up front, under the watchful eye of Leao in the stands, the much-anticipated Fullkrug displayed technical and physical frailties, both of which were fairly predictable. Pulisic made better use of the presence of a pure centre-forward partner, but continued in the lacklustre form that has characterised him in 2026. He did, however, recover in the second half, after a dismal tally of nine turnovers in the first. For the final twenty minutes, there was little or nothing to report on the enterprising Ricci (replacing Fofana) and the hard-working Nkunku, who came on for Fullkrug. Then there was also time for the returning Gimenez, who made his presence felt. Milan were in control, with the international break already almost upon them.
When the league resumes, there will be an away trip to Naples: effectively a head-to-head clash for second place; in theory, whoever wins will try to challenge Inter.
