MAIGNAN IS THE MVP FROM AC MILAN v NAPOLI
Awards
At San Siro, it was Mike Maignan's several saves that had a great bearing on the final outcome of the Champions League quarter-final first leg tie. Combined with Ismaël Bennacer's strike, the French keeper made four vital stops to earn AC Milan a 1-0 win over Napoli.
Four feats for five consecutive Champions league clean sheets for the Rossoneri. It was a test that saw Maignan winning the MVP award, as voted for by supporters via the AC Milan Official App. With 58% of the votes, Mike - his second consecutive European recognition, after the return leg against Tottenham - came ahead of three other key players on the night: Díaz, Calabria and Bennacer.
The four include: 4' from Anguissa; 12' from Zieliński; 49' from Elmas, and the best was saved until last, from Di Lorenzo after 87'. All four were different, but all had the same level of difficulty. They also arrived at crucial moments in the game: the Rossoneri struggled to contain the Partenopei in the opening quarter of an hour, before two saves at the beginning and end of the second half, when an equalising goal from the away side would have changed the complexion of the two-legged affair.
It was a winning perfomance from Mike. And not only for his efforts between the sticks: in fact, Maignan was the game's best player for ball recoveries (eleven) and for successful long balls forward (six, on a par with Kjær). It was a magical night, that has given the Rossoneri the upper hand going into the second leg at Maradona on Tuesday 18 April. Magic stuff, Mike!
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