AC Milan 1-2 Spezia: Gyasi nets late winner as the Rossoneri fall victim to officials again

AC Milan were stunned in the final minute by lowly Spezia as they won for the first time ever at San Siro thanks to a last minute goal from Emmanuel Gyasi. 

Everything was going according to plan at half-time thanks to Rafael Leao’s superb lob in added time, which came after Theo Hernandez had rolled a penalty wide just a couple of minutes prior, but things unravelled in the second half for the home side.

Kevin Agudelo came off the bench and instantly became the best player for Spezia, equalising with a well-taken goal at the near post after a feed from Verde. Milan thought they had won it when Junior Messias fired into the top corner but the referee whistled and had not played advantage, and then the final dagger came in the final few seconds when Emmanuel Gyasi finished a counter-attack to win it for the away side.

The result means that Milan missed the chance to overtake Inter and go top of the table, remaining two points behind their city rivals who have a game in hand, with the derby looming in early February.

Stefano Pioli made several changes to the team that beat Genoa in the cup last Thursday as Alessandro Florenzi, Tiemoue Bakyoko, Alexis Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz, Rafael Leao and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all made their way back into the team.

It was the Rossoneri who made the better start to the game and they had a couple of half chances inside the opening four minutes. The first saw Leao get the ball in space wide on the left and curl an effort narrowly wide of the far upright, while the second was a cut-back that Brahim failed to control on the edge of the six-yard box, which would have created a huge opportunity if he had.

Both sides constructed some nice attacking moves in the opening exchanges, with Leao again causing trouble this time via a jinking run down the centre, spreading the ball wide to Saelemaekers who cut inside and saw his shot blocked. A corner not long after was headed wide at the near post by Gabbia when he could have done better as Milan continued to dominate the chances.

Leao once more showed all of his explosive ability in the 16th minute as he got in isolation with Amian and shifted onto his left foot before shooting fiercely towards the bottom corner, though Provedel was equal to it with an excellent save.

There was another big chance for Milan to take the lead as confusion again consumed the Spezia defence, with Saelemaekers getting the ball in space inside the box before cutting onto his left foot and dropping Erlic in the process, yet his attempt was blocked and Ibrahimovic fired over from a narrow angle seconds later.

The man wearing number 17 was causing the Ligurian visitors all kinds of problems, and midway through the second half he nutmegged an opponent before sending the ball wide to Saelemaekers, but fired over first time after the cut-back from the Belgian.

Ibrahimovic was the latest to draw a save from Provedel in the 27th minute as a fantastic mid-air flick from Saelemaekers found the Swede and he bumped Erlic out of the way prior to firing low on goal, forcing the Spezia stopper to use his feet and save.

Up the other end Thiago Motta’s side provided a reminder of their danger as a quick break got Reca in behind with Gabbia playing him onside, though Maignan saved and gathered. Moments later, Ibrahimovic shot a couple of yards wide from distance.

Milan continued to find openings from anywhere on the field without scoring as Florenzi raked a 60-yard pass over the top to Leao who brought it down impressively but saw a shot blocked for a corner.

Provedel remained the busier of the two goalkeepers and he was called into a full stretch diving stop to deny Saelemaekers after he cut inside onto his left foot and angled a shot that was heading for the far corner.

However, he was to turn from hero to villain two minutes before the break as he was slowest to a throw-in that Leao poked beyond him before being kicked on the back of the leg. Both went down and initially a foul was given on the Portuguese winger but VAR reviewed it and gave a penalty, which Theo Hernandez stepped up to take and inexplicably rolled it wide with Provedel motionless.

In the one minute of added time at the end of the first half, Milan got the lead their early pressure had deserved and rather predictably it came through Leao. A ball over the top towards the former Lille man from Krunic took a slight but fortuitous deflection that put him through on goal, and he finished over Provedel with a cheeky lob as he was caught in No Man’s Land.

Gyasi certainly lived a very charmed life to begin the second half as the winger – who was given a yellow card in the first half – escaped a second booking for pulling on Theo’s shirt as he surged away, which came after he chopped Ibra down a few minutes before.

Ibrahimovic had the first opportunity of the second 45 minutes as the No.11 was fed by Saelemaekers, cutting onto his left foot and curling wide. The Belgian’s last action of the game would be drawing a save from Provedel at the near post in a move very similar to how he scored against Genoa in the cup, with Junior Messias coming on.

Maignan made a smart stop at his near post just before the hour mark as a lapse in concentration allowed Amian to receive the ball in space inside the box before turning and firing but being thwarted.

Spezia began to press more and more, and they got an equaliser in the 64th minute through the substitute Kevin Agudelo. The ball was worked out wide to Verde who had all the time in the world to pick out a teasing low cross that the striker got to at the near post and finished.

Moments after Messias headed a cross onto the roof of the net, a double change followed. Davide Calabria and Olivier Giroud were the players who came on, with Florenzi and Brahim Diaz the ones to make way.

There was a moment of anxiety for Milan as Spezia weren’t far away from taking the lead with Agudelo again the man at the centre of it all, beating his man to the byline and cutting it back into a dangerous area but just a couple of yards behind Kovalenko. Ante Rebic came on for Leao moments after.

Milan’s big final chance of normal time came in the final 15 seconds of the 90 minutes as a long ball was flicked was flicked on by Rebic into Ibrahimovic who spun and fired on the half volley but straight at Provedel.

There was an absolutely baffling moment in added time as the referee blew early for a foul on Rebic as the ball rolled into Messias who slotted into the top corner for the winner. No advantage was played and the Milan players were understandably furious.

To make matters worse Provedel then made a flying save to deny Ibrahimovic from the resulting free-kick and then again from the 40-year-old from the corner, tipping it onto the crossbar.