AC Milan made it four wins in a row in the league after an unforgettable last 15 minutes against Genoa, which saw Giroud as the goalkeeper.
Stefano Pioli heavily rotated in this fixture after an exhausting 0-0 outing against Dortmund only three nights ago. With Florenzi coming in for Calabria as the only change at the back. In midfield, Adli got the nod ahead of Pobega in front of the defence. It is in attack that most of the rotation occurred with Jovic getting his first start up front, Chukwueze starting on the right and Okafor getting his first start on the left.
Although the Rossoneri came out quite hot in the first half, there was nothing to show for it after the first 45. Genoa were quite happy absorbing the pressure at home, hoping a counter-attack with the electric Guðmundsson and his jinking runs would find a way through the Milan defence.
Milan were very happy in possession with the likes of Adli, Musah, and Reijnders passing the ball very neatly around Genoa’s final third. However, after a few lapses in concentration with Theo and Florenzi lazily earning a yellow each for a shoulder barge and shirt pull respectively; Genoa were able to win their first corner in the 24th minute. Guðmundsson’s low corner to the near post was met by Sabelli, but nothing came of it and that represented Genoa’s best chance in the opening half.
After a high-intensity first half an hour, Milan’s pace slowed substantially as they struggled somewhat to break down the compact Genoa midfield. It was positive to see another set-piece routine clearly straight from the training ground. Adli flashed the free-kick across the edge of the 18-yard box for Florenzi who smashed the shot wide. The last noteworthy play of the half was in the 41st minute where Florenzi produced an inswinging corner that Martinez flapped at, but managed to collect.
It was a rather uneventful first half between Genoa and Milan. The two sides largely cancelled each other out with Milan having the better showing of the game and control overall. Martinez and Maginan combined for just one save in the opening period, coming from the Rossoblu’s keeper. The majority of the play occurred in the middle third of the pitch. Reijnders looked lively when pressing forward as he often does, but the lack of an incisive pass stifled Milan’s attacking hopes. Genoa looked slick at times, but their constant dropping back hampered any momentum they could have gotten with Milan doing a good job of isolating Guðmundsson their main danger man.
At the stroke of the second half, Leao and Pulisic were brought on for Chukwueze and Okafor respectively. The second half began in the same way the first half did, with the two teams again trying to string together moves but with the final ball not there. Genoa did try and press a bit more in the opening ten of the second half, but the game reset to the first-half’s stalemate before long.
It was in the 66th minute that we saw Pioli really look to change things up, subbing off Adli for Giroud and opting for a 4-4-2 formation, with Jovic and the Frenchman operating up top together. Gilardino’s men then had arguably one of the closest chances of the game just after the 75th minute, where space opened up for Darugusin who had his shot blocked and deflected in by Reijnders, but Maignan was able to stretch unbelievably and turned the deflected shot to a corner.
Pulisic who did look lively when coming on in the second half, and he broke the deadlock with a fantastic strike. Musah found some great space on the right wing before crossing it in towards the penalty spot. Pulisic then met the delivery with a great first touch in the penalty area before allowing the ball to fall in front of him as he slotted in the half-volley past Martinez from close range.
Milan’s defence wasn’t called into action much, but when the Rossoblu knocked, Tomori and Thiaw especially were rocks at the back.
When all was looking like a formality for Milan, Genoa rushed forward in the 97th minute forcing Mike to attempt to win the ball outside of his area. Ekuban looked to win the ball but Maignan flew in high, winning the ball first but also catching Genoa’s striker in the face with his knee.
A crazy last 10 of injury time then saw Mike get sent off after the referee Marco Piccinini ran over to the monitor to assess whether the French goalkeeper had caused dangerous play. After a quick review, Piccinini decided to give Mike a straight red to the absolute befuddlement of Maignan and his teammates, however knowing the game was nearly over and thus the big three points, Giroud donned the keeper gloves in what ended up being an iconic end at the Luigi Ferraris.
After Tomori got shown a yellow for protesting the decision, Genoa rushed forward again after taking the free-kick awarded due to Maignan’s challenge, it was then after a subsequent corner for Genoa, that their keeper Martinez was sent off with his second yellow of the night after lunging wildly at Tomori.
In the 105th minute after 15 minutes of injury time due to all this chaos was granted, Giroud made a wonder save with Puscas charging forward to equalise, Giroud rushed off his line and threw a fist at the ball which was enough to keep the ball out of reach for any Genovese player.
A game that for almost 90 minutes was nothing but a deadlock, produced the most exhilarating and heart-palpitating end with the winning goal and two goalkeepers being sent off in the space of only 15 minutes.
