AC Milan 2-1 Roma: 3 things we learned

AC Milan beat Roma 2-1 at the San Siro on Friday, Aug. 31. Here are three things we learned from the game.

AC Milan left it very late to take the win in their match against Roma on Friday, but few could argue they didn’t deserve it. Here are three key takeaways from the match.

Milan show huge glimpses of their potential

Milan might not be in the reckoning as genuine title challengers to Juventus this season, but they showed exactly why they’re very highly rated. A team with a wonderful balance of experience and youth, flair and grit, this Milan side have genuine potential to challenge for the league soon.

Frank Kessie, still only 21, scored the opener, but his industry and audacity in possession is what really stood out. In Gonzalo Higuain, Milan have their talismanic forward who they can fall behind, but it was local lad Patrick Cutrone who scored the winner for them.

Gennaro Gattuso has Milan playing wonderful passing soccer — in many ways the opposite of how Gattuso himself played — and he would have been proud of the character showed by his team last night.

Despite being dominated in the second half by Roma, Milan were plucky and got stuck into Roma until they had the chance to pounce. Milan are still a very young team; if they play the way they did against Roma, they have a very bright future to look forward to.

VAR making its presence felt

VAR was called into the the game twice, both in key moments, and came up top on both occasions.

Despite the world only being properly introduced to VAR during the World Cup, it’s important to remember VAR has had an entire season in Serie A already.

VAR has its critics, but it’s value is becoming more apparent. Both times VAR was called in, it allowed the referee to go back on his original decision and make the correct one instead.

What was most interesting, however, was watching how the players instantly carried on with the game post-break. It’s an indicator of how VAR has been accepted into soccer almost everywhere in Italy, and while it may still have problems, it’s impact on the momentum of a game really is minimal, which is great for fans.

A mixed bag for Roma

Roma dominated the second half. That much was certain. In many ways though, it was this domination and pursuit of all three points that cost them the game. Eusebio Di Francesco will be pleased with the effort put in by his players in the second half, after being thoroughly outplayed in the first, but maybe a little tactical naivety came into play right at the end for his team.

Despite having the experience of Daniele De Rossi, Kostas Manolas, Federico Fazio and Edin Dzeko, Roma looked like they couldn’t fathom they would lose the game right up until Cutrone’s winner. Their defensive structure was pulled apart for the goal, and the lack of tracking back from the midfield in the end cost them.

Di Francesco and his men should have maybe realized that a point away at a direct rival isn’t a bad result, and should have played the game out for the final few minutes.

Roma have now lost two of their three games. Their active transfer window means that they have many players still to bring into the team, but they have to be wary not to fall away from the top four quickly.