AC Milan continued in their winning ways in the Champions League with a much-needed 3-2 win against Slovan Bratislava on Tuesday night.
After the draw to Juventus, some suggested getting a result in Slovakia became vital, if nothing else to keep fans confident about the side, after the first major displays of displeasure at the weekend.
With this, Paulo Fonseca looked to shake up the squad, making six changes to his starting eleven from the weekend, most notably dropping Rafael Leao for Noah Okafor, even if he did not give a reason to drop the Portuguese international during his press conference.
The game started as Fonseca probably would have asked for, with the Rossoneri largely dominant, and after 20 minutes, the visitors took the lead through Christian Pulisic after some nice work from Tammy Abraham.
Frustratingly, though, the Rossoneri did not learn from an earlier mistake which allowed Slovan through, and once again they found themselves victims to a counter-attack. This time though, they were not saved, Tigran Barseghyan did not make a mistake, lofting the ball over Mike Maignan and levelling the game.
The second half was quite lacklustre for the most part, with the Diavolo failing to really create much danger for the hosts, but the game quickly flipped on its head, as Rafael Leao set things in motion after coming onto the pitch at the start of the half, scoring to make it 2-1.
Then, just minutes later, Abraham got his goal for the evening, pouncing on a mistake from the defence and slotting home with ease, surely putting the game to bed.
However, things are never simple with Milan, and Slovan got themselves a goal back a minute away from the end of normal time, adding a bit of nerve to the game, but a late red card quickly eased worries.
As the Rossoneri did against Juventus, they started the game with intensity, in their press and in their attacks, and this showed with a Samuel Chuwkueze shot within the opening two minutes. Some nice Noah Okafor work into the box resulted in the ball finding Reijnders, who set Chukwueze into motion, but the Nigerian could only fire his shot wide.
The Diavolo felt they should have a penalty just two minutes later as Chukwueze went down in the box, but the winger probably went down slightly too easily for the referee’s liking and he shook away the claims for a spot kick, bright signs nevertheless from Paulo Fonseca’s men.
Despite a set-piece chance from Theo Hernandez which was fired wide, and some hopeful attempts from outside the box, the game settled slightly in the following minutes with Milan looking to dominate possession and frustrate the hosts.
The attempts to dominate the ball nearly needn’t have mattered though as Slovan quickly caught the Rossoneri on the counter, and Strelec was slipped 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 definitely.
Fonseca’s side instantly created a warning of their own, and Pulisic was played into the penalty area, but his lofted attempt did not fool the goalkeeper, and the ball was easily cleared. A welcomed rejuvenation of the game after a rather settled period.
The warning quickly became something tangible as Tammy Abraham displayed some excellent hold-up play before slotting Pulisic through the middle, and the American prodded the ball home, by no means beautiful but important.
It wasn’t just Milan who wanted to make something tangible after earlier caution, and following a corner from the Rossoneri, the hosts found themselves on the counterattack with Fonseca’s side perhaps over-committed.
Despite Tijjani Reijnders’ best efforts to track Barseghyan, he couldn’t make a challenge due to him being behind the player and being the last man. So with the reduced pressure, the Armenian lofted the ball over Maignan to level the scoring. A schoolboy error to overcommit from a corner, and the visitors were rightfully punished.
Following the goal, Milan began to look more timid, and the hosts started to look to dominate things themselves with the Rossoneri looking slightly vulnerable. Whilst still retaining more of the ball, there was little done with it by Fonseca’s side.
The half came towards an end with the Diavolo slightly more on top again, but after the Slovan equaliser, few chances carried any threat.
A rather disappointing half all things considered, and whilst the gap in quality, at least on paper, might have been substantial, there were no signs of this, with the Rossoneri failing to create much danger regularly despite seeing more of the ball.
After the disappointing first half, Fonseca opted to make the first change of the game, a direct swap for Noah Okafor with Rafael Leao entering the pitch.
Although with slightly less intensity, Milan once again opened the half the stronger side after the interval, looking to get themselves ahead once again, however, their efforts were slightly lacklustre, and the end product wasn’t there.
Leao’s first chance to stretch his legs came around 10 minutes after coming onto the pitch, and the Portuguese drove down the left flank before coming central as we have seen so many times before. However, the winger failed to create any danger from it, instead running into his defender.
In the minutes that followed it was more of the same from Milan. The ideas were the same, and the execution, unfortunately, followed suit. Crosses were aimed into the same areas, and the same runs were made, all with no success.
That was until it wasn’t. Youssouf Fofana played a searching ball through some Slovan defenders, a change in the script that had been written, and Milan made the hosts pay through Leao who broke free before lobbing the keeper delicately, a much-needed goal for the visitors and Fonseca.
Then, like London buses, the Rossoneri got themselves on the scoresheet again, and the high press paid off as Fonseca’s side forced Slovan into a mistake at the back and Abraham slotted the ball home gratefully. A massive goal for his season in a rare chance to start, rounding up a decent performance from the Englishman in his first start in almost two months.
Shortly after the third goal went in, Fonseca made three changes to allow some key players a minute to rest – Emerson Royal on for Calabria, Ruben Loftus-Cheek for Fofana, and Yunus Musah for Pulisic.
Then, with the Rossoneri in cruise control, the head coach made his final substitute of the evening, bringing off Abraham, who had a fantastic game, for the 16-year-old Camarda, more vital minutes without any pressure.
As it rarely does with Milan though, the game did not fizzle out, and Nino Marcelli – who has been linked to the Diavolo – fired home with a wonderful strike, but any fears of any late drama were lessened as the hosts got a red card from the restart.
Job done, but there was certainly more to be desired once again.
