AC Milan 2-1 PSG: Hosts FINALLY score their first Champions League goals as Rafael Leao bicycle kick and Olivier Giroud header see off Ligue 1 titans after former Inter star Milan Skriniar’s opener in feisty thriller
- Paris Saint-Germain had five players booked in Tuesday’s defeat by AC Milan
- Milan Skriniar scored on his return to Milan after leaving Inter over the summer
- Sutton tells all on the hardest day of his career – Listen to It’s All Kicking Off
It took just eight minutes for Milan Skriniar to mark his return to Milan in the Champions League with a goal that that was surely felt on the blue-and-black half the city
Skriniar – likely the one player that AC Milan will not have wanted to concede to – stooped low in the box to head home after a flick on from Marquinhos after a strong opening salvo to the game by the visitors.
The former Inter star slipped Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s attentions and was unmarked in acres of space in front of Mike Maignan in goal to get Luis Enrique’s side off to the perfect start.
But the lead lasted just under four minutes, before Rafael Leao athletically got the hosts back level, latching onto former team-mate Gianluigi Donnarumma’s save to bicycle kick the ball beyond the giant Italian stopper.
AC Milan had not scored at home since the end of September – and not at all in the Champions League. but it was more than worth the wait, Leao following his pass into Olivier Giroud before, leaping acrobatically to volley home over his own head.
Rafael Leao scored a stunning overhead kick as AC Milan came from a goal down to beat PSG
Former Inter star Milan Skriniar (middle) had given the visitors the lead after just eight minutes
Olivier Giroud put the hosts ahead for the first time in the tie after the break with a header
Your browser does not support iframes.
The whistle went at half-time to bring an end to a breathless first half, but only after Ousmane Dembele could rattle the cross bar and warn the hosts that the attacking might of PSG still carried some bite.
Within five minutes of the restart however, the hosts went in front for the first time through the veteran striker Giroud.
Theo Hernandez whipped a ball across the face of the six-yard box, and France’s record goal scorer climbed highest to thump a header into the top corner to punish the Ligue 1 giants for going to sleep.
Milan laid down a challenge for PSG’s attack with a resolute defensive display, with Malick Thiaw and Fikayo Tomori particularly impressive at the heart of the back four.
Within seconds of taking to the field, Noah Okafor almost made it three, only for Donnarumma to pull out a save of the highest order and deny the Swiss international, cutting in onto his right and unfurling a shot at the bottom corner.
Lee Kang-in had a chance to become the hero for the French side, weaving his way through the challenges inside the Milan box, but his strike was narrowly wide of the mark, helped beyond the post by a diving Maignan.
As the game entered added time it was heartbreak for Christian Pulisic who pulled up in the middle of a sprint with an apparent hamstring issue, and was forced off the field to be replaced by former PSG star Alessandro Florenzi.
MATCH FACTS
AC Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Thiaw, Hernández; Reijnders, Musah (Krunic 84′); Pulisic (Florenzi 90+1), Loftus-Cheek, Rafael Leão (Okafor 84′); Giroud
Subs: Adli, Jovic, Chukwueze, Pobega, Nava, Mirante, Bartesaghi
Goals: Leao 12′, Giroud 50′
Booked: Musah
Manager: Stefano Pioli
Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Skriniar (Barcola 89′), Hernández (Mukiele 65′); Zaïre-Emery, Ugarte (Ruiz 60′), Vitinha (Lee 60′); Dembélé, Kolo Muani (Ramos 60′), Mbappé
Subs: Soler, Letellier, Tenas
Goals: Skriniar 9′
Booked: Hernandez, Vitinha, Kolo Muani, Ugarte, Skriniar
Manager: Luis Enrique
Source: Read Full Article
