AC Milan advanced to the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Genoa after extra time at the San Siro.
Andriy Shevchenko’s Genoa side took a shock lead with 17 minutes on the clock as Leo Ostigard rose highest to send a bullet header past Mike Maignan at the back post from Manolo Portanova’s cross.
The Rosseblu looked good value for their lead up until half-time, but Milan turned up the gears in the second half and eventually found an equaliser courtesy of Olivier Giroud, who sent a towering header into the back of the net with fifteen minutes left to play.
With AC Milan going into half-time 1-0 down to Genoa – who were arguably the better side until that point – changes needed to be made to turn the cup tie around in the Rossoneri’s favour, and Stefano Pioli’s substitutes did the trick, which gives him a lot of credit in the bank.
Rafael Leao, who was introduced in the 62nd minute, caused havoc on the right from the moment he came on, and will definitely have given Genoa’s Silvan Hefti a sleepless night. The Portuguese attacker eventually found Milan’s second goal in extra-time, and despite the finish being on the fortunate side, it was no less than he deserved.
Alexis Saelemakers, who came on in the 80th minute, also chipped in with Milan’s third goal, and Brahim Diaz provided the assist for Milan’s second.
As mentioned above, for the difference he made on the outcome of the game, the 22-year-old is deserving of the player of the match accolade.
In addition to his goal, the Portuguese attacker had two shots on target, made countless attacking progressive runs from out wide, and added more dynamism in attack for the Rossoneri – a complete game-changer in every sense of the word.