AC Milan ensured that they will take an advantage to Prague next week as they beat Slavia Praha 4-2 in a dramatic first leg encounter in their Europa League last 16 tie.
The fact that Milan scored four goals, won the game and walked off the pitch perhaps not feeling best pleased says a lot about how the game went. A red card for Diouf swung the momentum in favour of the home side, especially when Olivier Giroud found the opener, but Doudera’s equaliser stunned the San Siro crowd.
Tijjani Reijnders and Ruben Loftus-Cheek struck in quick succession before the interval to give the Rossoneri a 3-1 lead at the break and it looked like job done, but then Schranz halved the deficit. Christian Pulisic’s tap-in gave breathing room again, yet when the full-time whistle went there was an absence of cheers that spoke volumes.
Stefano Pioli elected to make one change from the side that beat Lazio on Friday night with Tijjani Reijnders coming into the midfield in place of Ismael Bennacer.
The referee Umut Meler laid the law down early when he booked Alessandro Florenzi as he clipped Konecny while he went to try latch on to the ball, and that means he will miss the return leg in Prague.
Slavia probably should have got their first yellow card in the 10th minute when Olivier Giroud spun his man and was clipped to the floor right on the edge of the box. A dangerous free-kick position resulted, but Florenzi’s effort was whipped onto the roof of the net.
The away side then had a couple of their own opportunities. The first was when a cross from the right wing to the far side of the box looked to have found Diouf perfectly but he whiffed at the attempted volley, then Doudera find some joy cutting inside past Matteo Gabbia yet he sliced his shot wide much to Mike Maignan’s relief.
After 26 minutes, Slavia were reduced to 10 men for what at first glance seemed to be a regulation foul on Pulisic. Diouf definitely brought the American down, but San Siro seemed in shock when Meler produced the red card, though replays showed he went with studs into his Achilles.
The red card rather predictably changed the momentum of the game, and Milan took the lead on 34 minutes. Pioli’s side worked the ball around the edge of the box well and found Leao, who cut inside and seemed to whip a shot that was heading wide but allowed Giroud to stoop in and head in at the far post having been played onside by the last man.
However, the response from Slavia could hardly have been better as they equalised inside a couple of minutes. A corner was cleared from the penalty spot but only to just outside the box where Doudera was waiting to hit a beautiful volley that Maignan could only tip in off the post.
Milan then had to set about restoring their advantage, and Leao drew a good stop from Stanek to deny a Leao header, but then he made an even better stop from a corner as Gabbia’s header seemed destined to find the bottom corner.
As the pressure suggested, the Rossoneri did get themselves in front and it came from Reijnders. A short corner was not properly closed down by an increasingly tired looking Slavia side, and the Dutch midfielder was given time to step into a shot which he thumped into the bottom left corner.
Another goal followed before the break and again it came via a set piece. Florenzi took the corner just as he did for the second goal, whipping it into a very dangerous area this time where Loftus-Cheek was waiting with the simple task of heading into the back of the net past a helpless Stanek.
Pioli decided to make two changes at the break with Fikayo Tomori and Davide Calabria coming on, taking the place of Gabbia and Florenzi, the latter of whom was on a yellow card.
In the first half the Czech side were able to commit the bodies over to limit Leao’s influence, yet the space began to appear after the red card and he almost got his name on the scoresheet early in the second half when he opened his body and bent a shot just wide of the far post.
Despite the rest of the game seeming like a formality, Milan again conceded from a set piece and again it was a ball in they didn’t properly deal with. The delivery was flicked on to the far side of the box where Schranz was waiting to bring it down unmarked and hammer a shot inside the far post.
A couple of minutes after the goal, Pioli decided to go two up front with Luka Jovic coming on for Loftus-Cheek.
The home fans begun to get more and more restless as Milan struggled to dominate the game despite having a man advantage, and the final two changes saw Noah Okafor and Ismael Bennacer come on for Giroud and Reijnders.
Jovic wasn’t too far away from making another big impact off the bench when he swung a boot at Leao’s cut-back and connected well with it though it swept wide of the near post.
With just over five minutes left on the clock, Milan did get themselves back into a two-goal lead and the had Leao to thank. A quick move saw the ball spread wide to the winger who toyed with the defender before dinking the ball over the goalkeeper, and it looked like Pulisic arrived to get the final touch to send it over the line.
