Player Ratings: Roma 2-2 Milan

Roma

Doni – 6.5: Didn’t have all that much to do this evening, and was certainly not at fault for either of the Milan goals. His world class save on 80 minutes was enough to deny Kaka what would have been a third goal, and potentially the winner for the Rossoneri.

Cassetti – 5.5: Selected ahead of Cicinho and Christian Panucci tonight, the right-back showed glimpses, but was inconsistent in this match. His lack of physicality is what led to Kaka easily getting past him to set up Pato’s first goal.

Mexes – 6.0: Was great aerially, however it wasn’t the Frenchman’s greatest game tonight. He struggled to deal with the pace of the Milan attackers, mostly Pato, who left him for dead with his pace on the second goal.

Juan – 6.0: Similar to Mexes, not the duo’s greatest game this evening, despite the fact that he didn’t do too much wrong. The Brazilian made an outstanding interception to deny Kaka after 55 minutes, which would have been Milan’s third goal in six minutes had it gone in.

Riise – 7.0: Undoubtedly the best of the Roma back four, the former Liverpool man was great from the onset. Not only was he solid defensively, but he did well to get forward and act as another attacking option. He set up Vucinic’s first goal, with a well directed ball into the area.

Perrotta – 6.0: A hard working performance by the midfielder in this contest. It’s fair to say that he didn’t have the biggest impact on proceedings, but he gave his all throughout.

De Rossi – 6.5: Plays with his heart on his sleeve each and every time he takes to the field, and this showed again tonight. The stand in captain was a little wasteful at times; however he never gave in and fought to the end.

Brighi – 5.5: The midfielder can be credited for the assist for the second goal to Vucinic, but besides that he didn’t do much worth noting in this match.

Taddei – 5.5: The Brazilian winger was lively early, however after the first 10 minutes or so his impact was minimal, and he was substituted after 64 minutes as a result.

Baptista – 6.5: The former Real Madrid man looked dangerous for the large part of this match, but just couldn’t impose himself as much as he would have liked to. He was pivotal early on in particular, as the Romans got off to a great start.

Vucinic – 7.5: A brilliant brace from the Montenegrin, as he continued his fantastic goal scoring form and ensured a point for his side. He has proven himself against the very best time and time again, and tonight was just another reason why he is one of the Serie A’s most dangerous attackers.

Subs: Pizarro 6.0, Cicinho N/A, Aquilani N/A

Milan

Abbiati – 6.5: Similar to his counterpart, Abbiati didn’t have all that much to do in this match, however he dealt with everything that was thrown at him to the best of his ability. Not at fault for either goal, and kept his side in it in the latter stages.

Zambrotta – 6.0: Decent performance by the World Champion, who made a world class block to deny Mexes after 15 minutes of play. Solid defensively, and he managed to get forward at times as well.

Maldini – 6.0: Professional performance by the Milan veteran this evening. Did well against the opposing attackers, and looked comfortable playing in the centre of defence in Rome.

Favalli – 6.0: Considering the fact that he was called up just moments prior to the kick-off to replace Kakha Kaladze, who was injured in the warm up, Favalli was switched on from the onset, and really didn’t do too much wrong.

Jankulovski – 5.5: His poor marking on Vucinic led to the Montenegrin opening the scoring, however despite this, he did manage to get forward more often than once to have an impact at various stages of the match.

Seedorf – 5.5: Not the midfielder’s greatest performance tonight, as his passing was more than uncharacteristic at times. He got better as the match wore on, but he wasn’t as lively as usual throughout.

Pirlo – 6.5: The classy midfielder took a while to get into it, but when he did, he looked extremely confident when in possession of the ball. It was evident that he was really comfortable playing alongside Beckham in the midfield, so expect this partnership to blossom in the coming weeks.

Beckham – 7.0: It was the new signing’s first competitive match since the end of October, however despite this; it did not take long for the Englishman to make his mark. His dangerous balls into the area were more than impressive, and his impact tonight was outstanding, considering his short time at the club thus far.

Kaka – 7.0: The Brazilian was his usual self tonight, and did what he had to, to ensure that his side took a result away from the contest. He set up Pato’s first, with a lovely ball across the face of goal, and he looked dangerous throughout the contest when over the ball.

Ronaldinho – 5.5: A relatively quiet night for the Brazilian, who started brightly, but faded out of it to have minimal impact by the end. He was substituted after 70 minutes by Ambrosini as a result.

Pato – 8.5: Undoubtedly the man of the match tonight. The young Brazilian showed some real class in this match, as he grabbed two goals, and was a handful for the Roma defenders throughout. His pace and creativity was simply too much for his opponents to handle, and he proved that with another incredible performance.

Subs: Ambrosini 5.5, Flamini N/A

Adrian Del Monte