AC Milan’s mission to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League were dealt a big blow as they lost 3-0 away from home against Paris Saint-Germain.
The home side got the opening goal in the first half as Kylian Mbappe produced a clinical finish that he had threatened to before that, and it was to get even worse in the second 45 minutes.
Randal Kolo Muani buried a rebound from a corner routine to make it 2-0, and Lee Kang-In added some gloss to the scoreline in the closing stages to make sure of the points.
Milan are now bottom of the group after Dortmund’s win against Newcastle United, with no wins and no goals scored in their three games and a minor miracle needed to progress.
Stefano Pioli made four changes from the side that lost to Juventus at the weekend is Mike Maignan, Theo Hernandez and Pierre Kalulu came into the rearguard while Rade Krunic resumed his place at the base of the midfield.
After receiving a red card a few days ago, Malick Thiaw went into the book inside five minutes for hauling his man down on the break. Less than three minutes later, Krunic joined him for a mistimed tackle which again thwarted a counter.
PSG were well on top in the opening minutes as they pressed high and gave Milan no time on the ball, but Pioli’s men settled a bit and won a couple of corners after a good spell, the second of which was played to the edge of the box in a routine and was fired wide by Leao.
The opening 20 minutes were played at a high intensity but with little quality as PSG struggled to get Mbappe on the ball, but he had their first shot on target from 20 yards which Maignan easily saved.
The Rossoneri had their first big flash of danger in the 26th minute when Leao went on a darting run in off the left, drifting past two men and curling a shot the evaded the crossing path of Giroud and just bounced wide of the far post.
In the 33rd minute, the threat that Mbappe had provided ended up resulting in the opening goal. Zaire-Emery fed the ball to the French winger whose quick feet were too fast for Tomori, allowing him to bury a shot inside the near post with his right foot from just inside the box.
The home side continued to look more likely to score and Thiaw was called on to make a crucial block after Mbappe fed Kolo Muani down the right side of the box.
Pioli decided to make a change at the break as Thiaw – who was on a yellow card – was withdrawn in favour of Davide Calabria, meaning Kalulu moved over to centre-back.
It looked like a nightmare start to the second half for Milan as PSG thought they doubled their lead. A tough challenge in midfield saw Musah lose possession, and a three-on-two break ended with Dembele curving a shot inside the far post past Maignan, however VAR picked up the foul and the goal was disallowed.
Things went from near-disaster to near-heaven for Milan when Maignan put Pulisic in behind with a superb long ball, yet the American tried to square for Giroud instead of shooting and the striker hit the side netting from a tight angle.
In the 53rd minute it was 2-0, and there was no doubting the legitimacy this time. A short corner routine seemed to take Milan by surprise and Dembele was allowed to fire a low shot that Maignan could only parry to Kolo Muani, who had an easy finish past Tomori on the line.
When Mbappe got the better of Calabria and got onto his right foot it looked like the game could be over before the hour, though he hit his shot straight at Maignan to let Milan off.
Milan managed to test Donnarumma for the first time when Pulisic was given space to run down the right wing and he took on a shot with his left foot that had plenty of power but was straight down the middle.
With the game slipping towards a comfortable home win, Pioli decided to bring on two more midfielders as Yacine Adli and Tommaso Pobega replaced Krunic and Musah.
Hakimi produced an excellent intervention to stop Leao’s shot putting Donnarumma in danger after he had been found by Pulisic and the ball deflected into the side netting.
When a corner swung in from the left side was met by a powerful header from Giroud at the far post but was saved by Donnarumma, it was clear that it wasn’t Milan’s night.
Maignan produced a simply brilliant fingertip stop to deny Mbappe his second and PSG’s save after another counter ended with him cutting inside again and firing towards the far corner.
With less than two minutes to go, the third goal was added to seal it by Lee Kang-In. A wonderful counter-attack ended with a cut-back that was dummied and the South Korean finished past a motionless Maignan.
