AC Milan continued their winning streak in the Champions League on Tuesday evening with a much-needed 3-2 win against Slovan Bratislava.
Match report
Paulo Fonseca attempted to shake up the squad by making six changes to his starting XI at the weekend, with Rafael Leao most notable ahead of Noah Okafor, even though he gave no reason for dropping the Portugal international during his press conference.
The match started as Fonseca would probably have asked for, with the Rossoneri largely dominant and after 20 minutes the visitors took the lead through Christian Pulisic after good work from Tammy Abraham.
But frustratingly, the Rossoneri failed to learn from an earlier mistake that allowed Slovan through, and once again they fell victim to a counter-attack. However, this time they were not saved. Tigran Barseghyan made no mistake as he lifted the ball over Mike Maignan to level the match.
The second half was rather mediocre for the most part, with the Diavolo failing to create much danger for the hosts, but the match quickly turned on its head when Rafael Leao got things moving after he entered the field. half, scored to make it 2-1.
Just minutes later, Abraham scored his goal for the evening, pouncing on a mistake from the defense and slotting the ball home with ease, certainly putting the game to bed.
However, things are never easy for Milan and Slovan pulled a goal back a minute before the end of regular time, making the match a bit more nervous, but a late red card quickly put any concerns to rest.
Like the Rossoneri against Juventus, they started the match with intensity, in their press and in their attacks, and this was reflected in a Samuel Chuwkueze shot within the first two minutes. Some nice work by Noah Okafor in the box resulted in the ball finding Reijnders, who set Chukwueze in motion, but the Nigerian could only fire his shot wide.
The Diavolo felt they should have been awarded a penalty just two minutes later when Chukwueze went down in the penalty area, but the winger probably went down a little too easily for the referee's liking and he shrugged off claims for a penalty, bright signs nonetheless from Paulo Fonseca's goal. Gentlemen.
Despite a chance from Theo Hernandez that was shot wide, and some hopeful efforts from outside the penalty area, the match settled down somewhat in the ensuing minutes, with Milan looking to dominate possession and frustrate the hosts.
However, the attempts to dominate the ball almost didn't have to matter as Slovan quickly caught the Rossoneri on the counter and Strelec was slotted through the middle. Despite rounding Maignan, the striker couldn't find the back of the net due to a fantastic block from Strahinja Pavlovic, a lucky escape for sure.
Competition events
0' The match is about to start!
3' Highlight of SK Slovan Bratislava vs. Milan
5' Highlight of SK Slovan Bratislava vs. Milan
8' Highlight of SK Slovan Bratislava vs. Milan
16' match event for SK Slovan Bratislava vs Milan
21' GOAL! SK Slovan Bratislava 0-1 Milan (Christian Pulisic)
24' GOAL! SK Slovan Bratislava 1-1 Milan (Tigran Barseghyan)
38' Highlight of SK Slovan Bratislava vs. Milan
44' Highlight of SK Slovan Bratislava vs. Milan
50' Highlight of SK Slovan Bratislava vs. Milan
56' Highlight of SK Slovan Bratislava vs. Milan
65' Highlight of SK Slovan Bratislava vs. Milan
68' GOAL! SK Slovan Bratislava 1-2 Milan (Rafael Leão)
71' GOAL! SK Slovan Bratislava 1-3 Milan (Tammy Abraham)
76' match event for SK Slovan Bratislava vs Milan
84' Highlight of SK Slovan Bratislava vs. Milan
89' GOAL! SK Slovan Bratislava 2-3 Milan (Nino Marcelli)
92' Red card! Marko Tolic was sent off
Setups
SK Slovan Bratislava
Subs: Robert Mak, Lukas Pauschek, Julius Szoke, Danylo Ignatenko, Marko Tolic, Martin Trnovsky, Matus Vojtko, Alen Mustafic, Sharani Zuberu, Artur Gajdos, Adam Hrdina, Nino Marcelli
Milan XI: Maignan, Calabria, Tomori, Theo, Abraham, Pulisic, Samuel Chukwueze, Noah Okafor, Tijjani Reijnders, Youssouf Fofana, S. Pavlovic
Subs: Sportiello, Loftus-Cheek, Gabbia, Aparecido, Leao, Yunus Musah, Malick Thiaw, Filippo Terracciano, Lorenzo Torriani, Francesco Camarda
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