AC Milan 3-3 Genoa: Rossoneri surrender lead late on in entertaining encounter | OneFootball

AC Milan and Genoa played out a thriller on Sunday evening at San Siro, eventually drawing 3-3 after both teams had given away leads.

Genoa got themselves ahead first when Mateo Retegui converted a penalty after a clumsy foul by Fikayo Tomori, then Alessandro Florenzi headed in to make it 1-1. The visitors retook the lead through Caleb Ekuban as Milan’s defensive woes continued.

It looked like a Matteo Gabbia header and a volley from Olivier Giroud had bailed the Rossoneri out as they took a late 3-2 lead, yet Retegui popped up again to get another goal and ensure Genoa left with a share of the spoils.

An entertaining game for the neutrals without a doubt, but it does little to help the quest to secure second place in the table nor to ease the worries about letting in too many goals.

Stefano Pioli made several changes from the draw against Juventus as the likes of Theo Hernandez, Fikayo Tomori, Ismael Bennacer and Samuel Chukwueze came back into the side.

The away side were given the chance to start the game in the best possible way when Tomori gifted them a penalty. Vogliacco seemed to be heading to the byline but the centre-back stepped in and got his challenge wrong, and Retegui hammered in the spot kick to give Genoa the 1-0 lead.

Milan came very close to levelling the scoring in the 13th minute when Pulisic – who was playing in a more central role due to Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s injury – shifted the ball onto his right foot and laced a shot against the post which then rebounded to safety.

Genoa were able to sit a bit deeper to try and reduce the space available to the Rossoneri after they went a goal up, with a series of shots from distance coming around the midway point of the first half. Tijjani Reijnders had the best one but it was dragged comfortably wide of the post.

Vasquez produced a heroic last ditch tackle to deny Chukwueze who looked to have been put through on goal by Olivier Giroud’s flick, then at the other end Frendrup hit a first time shot that was curling away from Sportiello but also thankfully the far post too.

Milan’s first half was probably best symbolised by a chance that came with 10 minutes left until the break. A nice one-two saw Leao get into a dangerous position inside the box, yet his quickly flicked cross was taken off Giroud by Chukwueze and it came to nothing.

Moments later Leao would again dart in off the left and get himself into a good shooting position, though a deflection took the sting out of his effort and Martinez gathered.

The former RB Leipzig goalkeeper then made two excellent saves: the first was a diving stop to deny a Pulisic effort that was heading for the top corner, then from the resulting corner Gabbia’s downward header was miraculously clawed away on the line.

Milan did get themselves deservedly level right on the stroke of half-time and it came from an unlikely source. Chukwueze put in a brilliant cross from the right side and Florenzi was waiting near the penalty spot to head home and finally beat Martinez.

Milan came out for the second half still asleep, and Genoa used this to their advantage to get themselves back in front. A pinpoint cross from the right flank was met by the head of Ekuban, who found the back of the net as Sportiello stayed rooted.

It looked as though Chukwueze had restored parity almost immediately when he finished well from a tight angle into the far corner, yet the offside flag rightly went up and the goal had to be chalked off.

The frustration for the home fans continued to grow as Leao took aim from 30 yards and succeeded only in finding the second tier, and then Theo wasted a glorious chance on the counter, shooting straight at the goalkeeper when he had Giroud to his left and Chukwueze to his right.

Moments after Noah Okafor came off for Leao he should have had an assist for Giroud as he burst away down the right and squared to the Frenchman, who lifted the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper but well wide of the goal.

Just inside the final 20 minutes, Milan did get themselves back level and it came from another rather unlikely scorer in Gabbia. The centre-back rose highest to head a corner inside the far post, much to the frustration of Genoa who had been working hard to keep their lead.

Three minutes after Gabbia’s equaliser, Milan got themselves ahead for the first time in the game as Giroud took the next chance that came his way. Pulisic stood up a lovely cross to the far post where the 37-year-old was waiting to volley back across goal and inside the far post.

A triple change came inside the final few minutes: Bennacer, Florenzi and Chukwueze came off, with Yacine Adli, Pierre Kalulu and Malick Thiaw coming on. Meanwhile, the Curva Sud emptied out in protest against the club.

There would be yet another twist as Genoa made it 3-3 and it was comedy defending. Reijnders did not track Thorsby who centred a ball towards Retegui, who bundled in from close range despite the fact both Thiaw and Tomori were near him.