Christian Abbiati
6.5
Saved Mark van Bommel’s bacon when he pulled off a magnificent save from Renan Bressan’s shot when one-on-one.
Taye Taiwo
6.5
More watchful than wondrous for large spells, he got forward to belt one left-foot volley well wide from the wing. His cut-back from the byline after an impressive run should have been finished by Cassano.
Alessandro Nesta
6.5
Made one great block on Renan Bressan as he broke through, while his positional awareness was excellent throughout, making another important intervention after Abate had sent Kezman heading for goal.
Ignazio Abate
6.0
Got in behind Yurevich well in the early stages, but then should have done better than hit Simic with a cross when in acres of space. Did better later with a tempting low cross which opened the way for Ibrahimovic’s opener. Punctuated the second half with a couple of horrendous passes across the face of goal. Made one excellent burst forward, but could have taken the ball on further.
Daniele Bonera
6.0
Brave enough to get his head in where it hurt against Kezman, but the Serb was quiet enough to give him a reasonably easy evening.
Mark van Bommel
6.0
Lined up in a deeper position than usual to begin with, but directed play well until an awful blind pass on the edge of his own area should have resulted in BATE taking the lead.
Alberto Aquilani
Top of the Match
7.5
An early header from eight yards only just cleared the bar, and he continued from there to play with great authority. Guided a beautiful effort off the foot of the post, but then side-footed straight at Gutor when he could have drilled it. A couple of delightful passes in the channels also had BATE backing off. Wonderful assist and pass play.
Antonio Nocerino
6.0
Got away a couple of times down the left as he showed more dynamism than of late, though he tried more than one audacious pass that was never likely to come off. Saw yellow after asking the referee why he’d intercepted a pass heading for Bonera.
Kevin-Prince Boateng
6.5
His petulant kick at Yurevich might have seen him sent off on another night, but seemed to do little wrong when penalised for a foul on the goalkeeper. Then spent long spells out of the game before drilling home superbly off the underside of the bar.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
7.0
His audacious 50-yard drive nearly caught out Gutor, but then sidefooted a volley over when a more orthodox effort might have brought an opener. Eventually made it 1-0 with a much more decisive strike, drilling low and hard into the centre of goal, and almost doubled his account when chipping wide with his left foot.
Antonio Cassano
5.0
Never really got into his stride at any point, drifting out of the game for long spells, while when he did come into it, his shooting ability and last pass were both regularly missing. Substituted on the hour mark.
• Substitutions
Philippe Mexes
N/A
Made his Milan debut, replacing Nesta for the final six minutes.
Urby Emanuelson
N/A
Replaced Boateng for the last 15 minutes.
Robinho
6.5
Replaced Cassano on the hour, and immediately added a more dynamic edge. A typical multi-stepover attack almost saw him add to Milan’s lead.
BATE
Aleksandr Gutor
6.0
Charged out to collect as Cassano headed goalwards, and looked tidy enough, but never got close to either fiercely hit goal.
Aleksandr Yurevich
5.0
Struggled against the rampaging Abate early on, and failed to get forward much. After the break he only retreated more as Milan turned the screw.
Artem Radkov
5.5
Not enough of a presence on the right of defence to stem the flow of Milan players getting in behind. A timid personality when BATE needed a bull.
Maksim Bordachov
6.0
Picked up a yellow card after he was bamboozled by Aquilani and resorted to pulling the midfielder’s shirt. Then collected the ball from Aquilani’s mistake only to play a very poor pass well behind Kezman. One delightful cross from the left which had Milan scrambling.
Marko Simic
6.0
Made an enemy of Ibrahimovic by fouling him from behind to earn a yellow card, and could have gone for a later offence. Good anticipation at times though.
Dmitri Likhtarovich
5.0
The midfield regista, he didn’t always direct well, sending the odd pass well short of its intended target. His best moment came when a great chipped pass put in Kezman, but he was subbed soon after the hour mark.
Aleksandr Volodko
5.5
Made progress down the right to win a corner in one of BATE’s better moments, but failed to get close to Milan’s midfielders, and failed to get final balls in from good positions.
Renan Bressan
6.5
BATE's liveliest player. His early free-kick effort cleared the bar, but he then forced Nesta into an excellent block when on a great run in the left channel. Should then have scored when Van Bommel’s mistake put him through on goal.
Dmitri Baga
5.5
Functional in defence, but unconvincing on the ball as he lost possession more than one to put his team under pressure.
Artyom Kontsevoi
5.0
Generally failed to stop Nocerino getting involved unless he was fouling him, and had very little effect on the ball, never once reaching the byeline.
Mateja Kežman Flop of the Match
4.0
Put an awkward side-foot volley wide as he failed to really inject anything into BATE’s play up front, later failing to get a decent shot in after a dreadful pass by Abate. Substituted soon after Boateng double Milan’s lead.
• Substitutions
Alexander Pavlov
N/A
Substitute for Renan Bressan, but by the time he came on the game was already over.
Edgar Olekhnovich
5.5
Entered the fray in place of Likhtarovich, but failed to turn around his team’s fortunes.
Maksim Skavysh
6.0
Given the chance to show his worth when replacing Kezman at 2-0, and looked much more lively than his predecessor.
