AC Milan fell to another defeat against Chelsea as they were beaten 2-0 at San Siro in the Champions League, but it was full of controversy.
The outcome of the entire game hinged upon a crucial decision that the German referee Siebert made inside the opening 20 minutes as he sent Fikayo Tomori off and gave a penalty after he adjudged the defender to have hauled back Mason Mount, even though every replay suggested it was a shocking call.
Jorginho scored the penalty and then while Milan were waiting to bring on another defender Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang capitalised to double the advantage for the away side with a low driven finish.
The result means that Milan are now two points behind Red Bull Salzburg with four points from their opening four group games, with Chelsea now top on seven points.
Stefano Pioli chose to stay loyal to almost all of the team that beat Juventus 2-0 on Saturday night as the entire starting line-up remained the same bar one change in midfield, where Rade Krunic took the place of Tommaso Pobega.
Just like in the reverse fixture last week, Milan had a lot of the ball early on and were allowed to set the pace of the game. The first scare for Chelsea came when Sandro Tonali’s free-kick was very close to meeting the head of Rafael Leao deep in the box, while another interesting note was how Theo Hernandez cut inside to virtually play across the midfield.
The two sides continued to trade blows, with Matteo Gabbia passing his first examination from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang by clearing the ball as the forward loomed, and then a counter-attack from the resulting corner ending with a crucial block by Reece James.
There was a huge moment of controversy inside the 18th minute as the referee Sieber decided to award a penalty and give a red card to Fikayo Tomori. The Chelsea forward managed to get in behind and though he had a hand on his shoulder from his former team-mate, he never went down and did not even seem to appeal for a spot kick. Jorginho took on the responsibility, and sent Ciprian Tatarusanu the wrong way.
Milan had the tough task of putting another refereeing injustice behind them with a man less on the field, and Olivier Giroud wasted a huge opportunity to make it 1-1 when he headed wide of the near post from a Brahim Diaz cross.
Just over 10 minutes before the break and after a spell of pressure from the Rossoneri, Chelsea doubled their advantage through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. A ball into Mount was held up and reversed into the path of Raheem Sterling, who made the right decision in dummying the ball of Aubameyang who fired in at the near post.
A chance was made not long after with Milan down a centre-back as Brahim Diaz was withdrawn in place of Sergino Dest, with Pierre Kalulu then shifting inside to play centre-back.
In the closing stages of the first half Tatarusanu made a smart save low down to his left to keep out a fizzing effort from Mount, with there already being an air of resignation among the over 75,000 fans present at San Siro.
There were two chances inside the opening five minutes of the second half with the first coming when Dest put Tonali behind the Chelsea defence but a pinball from the cut-back was cleared, and then Gallagher for the away side rounded Tatarusanu but fired into the side netting from a tight angle.
Tatarusanu had to remain alert as the away side went in search of a third goal that would have fully killed the contest if it wasn’t already dead, and he did well to stop a close range shot from Aubameyang that was a diverted effort from Kovacic.
Dest had a chance to get Milan firmly back into the game as a driving run from Leao was followed by a low cross that found its way through to the American full-back at the far post, and he had to hit the target yet somehow blazed over and wide.
Just after the hour mark, a double change was made by Pioli as Giroud made way for Ante Rebic and Tommaso Pobega came on for Bennacer.
Milan kept trying to play direct and cause issues with a quicker front two, and Leao should have done much better than getting caught in possession when a two-on-two came from a Chalobah mistake with Rebic’s overlapping run ignored.
Not long after Dest made an excellent recovery challenge to deny Aubameyang a brace, Pioli’s final rolls of the dice came with Divock Origi and Fode Ballo-Toure coming on for Leao and Theo Hernandez.
The closing stages of the game were played out almost at walking pace as Milan fell to yet another defeat against a Premier League side, but the controversy of the decision inside the opening 20 minutes will leave a bitter taste.
