AC Milan came from behind to beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday night to secure what was an absolutely crucial three points.
It was a poor start for the Rossoneri as Milan Skriniar headed the away team in front inside 10 minutes, but goals from Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud meant that Milan got the points they deserved for a really impressive display.
There was a fast start to the game from both teams with sights of goal coming within the first 10 minutes at both ends. Ruben Loftus-Cheek should have done better with a shooting opportunity, and he was swiftly made to pay for it.
PSG went down the other end and a flick-on from Warren Zaire-Emery was met at the far post by Milan Skriniar in acres of space. The former Inter defender stooped low to head in, having completely evaded the marking of Loftus-Cheek.
There still weren’t 15 minutes on the clock when Milan managed to get themselves level. Olivier Giroud was released in the left channel and his low shot was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma. It only flew up into the air, though, and it was Rafael Leao who reacted first with a great overhead kick that found the back of the net from very close range.
That seemed to give Milan the energy needed to take the game to the away side. More half-chances were created, but the threat of PSG was still extremely clear.
It was a game of many chances and down at one end, Ousmane Dembele’s shot from range pinged back off of the crossbar before Loftus-Cheek broke and found Giroud in the box who saw his shot hit the side netting.
Milan continued to come close to a second goal and after half an hour, a free-kick from range by Fikayo Tomori forced a save out of Donnarumma, albeit one he would be expected to make.
It was starting to feel a bit like the Newcastle game earlier in the group stage, with Milan creating chance after chance. It was Leao next, who cut inside from the left and hit a low shot just wide of the near post.
The second half started with a very similar pace to the first and this time, it was Milan who grabbed the early goal and got themselves in front.
A cross from Pulisic evaded Leao and it seemed that the attack had fizzled out. Theo Hernandez thought otherwise as he whipped the ball into the box and Giroud climbed highest against Skriniar to head Milan into a 2-1 lead.
Naturally, losing the lead led to Luis Enrique readying some substitutes and Goncalo Ramos and Lee Kang-in quickly looked ready to be introduced. With half an hour to play, Kolo Muani, Vitinha and Manuel Ugarte were taken off for Ramos, Kang-in and Fabian Ruiz.
Whilst PSG are a team that always poses a very serious threat, the changes did not make much of an immediate change to PSG and their threat level.
Mbappe did start to get on the ball more and more as the game wore on, but it was clear that the Rossoneri could counter very effectively if the ball were to drop right.
With just 10 minutes left to play, Milan looked like a team that backed themselves to defend the lead until the end of the game. The yellow cards were racking up for the away team and Skriniar got one for hacking Leao down when he was making his way towards goal.
Having been kicked by multiple defenders, Leao was taken off with five minutes to play for Noah Okafor. The Swiss forward almost scored immediately with his first two touches of the game. His low shot forced a good save out of Donnarumma. He also had another shot from the resultant corner that went over.
There was the occasional reminder that the points were not secure, such as when Lee Kang-in saw a low shot saved at the near post by Mike Maignan in the 89th minute.
There was bad news at the end of the game for Milan as Pulisic seemed to pull up with a hamstring injury. He could not continue, so Alessandro Florenzi was introduced.
The win takes Milan to third in the group with five points. Newcastle are below on four, whilst Borussia Dortmund and PSG have seven and six respectively. With two games to play, Milan’s fate is not sealed yet.
