AC Milan 3-0 Lecce: Five things we learned – Amorim provides answers while leaders step up
AC Milan ended their winless run at three games as they beat Lecce convincingly at San Siro on Sunday night.
It was important to win for a few reasons: above all to respond to the midweek defeat against Benfica but also to go into the international break with a bit of peace and also to help celebrate San Siro turning 100 the right way. In the end the performance was befitting of the occasion.
The first goal of the game came in the first half through Christian Pulisic, who brought down a ball over the top from Strahinja Pavlovic with a gorgeous touch and then finished with his next. Adrien Rabiot and Diego Moreira both scored in the second half to make it a relatively stress-free evening.
With Roma and Inter drawing at the Stadio Olimpico, things are more compact at the top. Milan are two points off the league-leaders and things now look and feel a bit more positive. Ivan Stoev has five key talking points from what was a dominant victory.
1. A clean sheet, at last
Milan had conceded five goals in their last three games prior to Lecce so it was nice to see a clean sheet for a change. Not only that, but it came with the away side having created close to nothing up front.
Yes, Lecce are not one of the strongest sides in the league, but games such as this one were the main reason Milan did not qualify for the Champions League last year, so getting a dominant 3-0 win is very much welcomed.
Koni De Winter was a pillar in the middle yet again having been selected over Matteo Gabbia, and the Italian will have some work to do if he wants to get back into the starting XI.
Mario Gila and Strahinja Pavlovic were also solid, with the Spaniard good on the ball as usual, and the Serbian wasn’t to shabby either as he got the assist on the opener after a lovely long ball to find Christian Pulisic. He had to do some work in order to control and convert, but it was still nice vision from Pavlovic.
The defence was also helped a lot by the fact that Adrien Rabiot and Luka Modric dominated the middle and even Pervis Estupinan also had a rather positive game this time around helping prevent any danger down the left flank.
There were no lapses in concentration this time, making it a defensive performance to build on after the three-week break.
2. Back with a bang
Pulisic was back into the line-up against Lecce and he sent a message to Amorim. The American has been a game changer off the bench in the past few games after recovering from an injury and not participating in the first couple of games of the season.
Against Lecce he was rewarded as he started alongside Alexis Saelemaekers behind Goncalo Ramos in the front three. He opened the scoring after a magical first touch to bring down Pavlovic’s long ball followed up by a quick finish with his weak foot past Falcone, who got a touch but couldn’t stop it.
The USA international continued to be dangerous afterwards and he was involved in most of the interesting chances Milan had, including a lovely flick to Rabiot before the Frenchman combined with Ramos for the second goal.
It was a lovely team move that Pulisic was at the heart of, as he so often is. Amorim will now be hoping to keep the American fit and firing, boosted by the news Mauricio Pochettino has decided to leave him at Milanello.
3. The dominant duo return
Luka Modric has had to deal with something he hasn’t had to for a long time in the past couple of months: people doubting his performance level. At the age of 41 and with Milan often having two games per week some energy management is natural, but Amorim entrusted him on Sunday night.
The game against Lecce was a perfect opportunity for him to respond to the doubters as it was a game where Milan dominated possession and Modric was able to dictate the tempo, especially since the opponents did not press as high.
Then, when given time on the ball we know that the former Real Madrid man has elite technical ability to play out of the press with quick passes that opened up the Lecce midfield. This allowed Milan to transition and create danger on multiple occasions.
Modric did well to draw out the Lecce players and then move the ball around quickly with he help of his team-mates and then find the right moment to kick off a dangerous counter. This is exactly how he can and should be utilised in an Amorim system.
It wasn’t all Modric in the middle of the park either as he had some help from Rabiot, who was a little more attack-minded that his colleague. He took advantage of the space opened up and made some imposing forward runs using his strength and pace to cut through the Lecce defence.
One of those moment also produced the impressive goal that Rabiot scored where the build-up was excellent with the Frenchman starting his run 30 odd metres away from goal, combining with Pulisic and Ramos on his way towards goal before finishing nicely.
After mixed outings in the attacking midfielder role, it seems that Rabiot might be more dangerous playing in the midfield two rather than behind the striker as he has more space to make these forward runs, whilst Pulisic is more creative behind the striker and is able to facilitate these sequences.
4. Goalless but involved
Another player that was slowly starting to rack up criticism was Ramos, and not without just cause as he had gone three games without a shot on goal and had begun to look isolated when leading the attacking line.
Against Lecce, the Portuguese was more lively as he felt and appeared much more involved in proceedings. His ability with his back against goal is something Milan have missed perhaps since the Olivier Giroud days, as he draws defenders to create pockets behind him.
In the second half he also got an assist for Rabiot’s goal with a precise pass that showcased selflessness as he was in a good position to try and score himself. He kept his cool and recognised that Rabiot was in a better position and provided the assist instead.
Ramos then also laid off the ball for Diego Moreira’s goal for Milan’s third, and while that wasn’t marked as an assist in the end it was another goal involvement for the former PSG man. Not only that, but Moreira could have squared to him for a tap-in, but the No.9 didn’t mind.
If he continues with the same attitude the goals will eventually come, but he was indeed a crucial part of this comfortable win even if the scoreboard does not suggest it.
5. Ruben’s response
Amorim has seen some criticism coming his way in the last few games and probably rightly so given the poor first halves against Juventus and Lazio, then being outplayed by a heavily-rotated Benfica. Among the main concerns were his initial line-ups and the slow starts to games.
Well, against Lecce, Amorim seemed to finally get the XI right. Milan got off to a great start and then managed to score just 14 minutes into the game. The Diavolo could’ve score even more in the opening 45 minutes too as they finally got going from the off.
In the second half Milan continued to dominate, even picking up the tempo a bit to secure the three points by pursing a second goal. Changes then came which resulted in a third goal courtesy of Moreira, so his substitutions made an impact still.
The only questionable decision was giving Estupinan the nod over Moreira yet again, but to be fair to the coach the Ecuadorian had one of his more tidy games. He could have, perhaps, been a bit more effective in possession but the overall performance was solid, while Davide Bartesaghi came on and looked a bit more rusty.
We got to see 90 minutes of good football from an Amorim side at least, and the improvement is definitely there. Now we head into a long international break where the Portuguese can further work on conditioning and tactics with the players that will be available to him.
