AC Milan 5-1 Cagliari: Five things we learned – quartet excel as joy emerges from doom

3. Missed chances

It does feel somewhat harsh to pick out multiple negatives from a win with a four-goal margin, but we figured we would at least sandwich them in with the other positives from the night.

Firstly, Yunus Musah was given the opportunity to start in what would be his preferred role in a three-man midfield. And yet, what he offered was a sloppy performance on the ball and an even sloppier one off the ball, culminating in him losing Nandez completely for the 2-1 goal.

Despite the decisions to make changes to reflect the heavy workloads, Giroud still got the nod up top and any hopes of him getting a grand farewell are evaporating fast. He was totally off the pace, with his hold-up play reduced to failed flicks. Noah Okafor came on and gave so much more.

Another small despondent note was that Matteo Gabbia did not have his best outing. He struggled to deal with Luvumbo and received a yellow card that will mean that he is suspended for the trip to Torino.

4. Bossing the middle

It was an emotional game for Bennacer as he donned the captain’s armband given the absence of those ahead of him in terms of appearances, and it seemed to elevate his performance level as he was the general of the midfield.

The best way to symbolise a bright and commanding display was the assist he got for Leao’s goal. An excellent recovery inside his own half was then followed by a long and perfectly weighted through ball to the former Lille man. It was like watching the Bennacer of old, now let’s hope that version stays.

In addition to the Algerian, Reijnders had a good game too. His stats include 98 touches, 76/79 completed passes (96%), one key pass, four successful dribbles, two blocked shots and two interceptions.

He also had a hand in sealing the victory too with a beautiful goal. Having found space around 25 yards out, Reijnders let fly and unleashed a fierce low shot that perfectly arrowed into the bottom corner past a helpless Scuffet.

5. Carrying on regardless

A fan protest had already happened during the 3-3 draw against Genoa at San Siro last weekend and they decided to repeat it six days on, wanting to reiterate their stance that clarity and ambition must come from the management.

Another statement was published by the Curva Sud as part of a fanzine that was distributed ahead of the game and they spoke of their silence being ‘a desperate cry of love’. What that translated into, once again, was a rather eerie atmosphere.

Without the support of the Curva it was like a throwback to those games in the mid 2010s when the team were fighting to finish seventh in front of a half-empty stadium where jeers and whistles met the first bad touches of the game

The players are stuck in a very difficult position here, even if it is at least somewhat partly their own making. They will be aware of the external noise regarding the head coach, the protests directly impact them during games and they are expected to play to their highest level.

Considering everything, that it was it feels right to praise the fact that they put on a show in the second 45 minutes. Yes they are professionals, yes they have a job to do (that they haven’t always done), but the fans bouncing and singing ‘Chi non salta nerazzurro è’ by the end paints a far more jovial picture than the pre-match doom suggested it would.