AC Milan stormed into their first UEFA Champions League semifinal in 16 years, defeating Napoli 2-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw on Tuesday. The match will be remembered for star striker Olivier Giroud’s redemption, as he missed a goal but later scored a thunderous goal.
Milan came into the match with a one-goal lead from the previous leg. But they blew their best chance to double the lead when Giroud’s penalty kick was saved by Alex Meret an hour into the game.
Napoli got off to a fast start thanks to that support. Kvaratskhelia and Piotr Zielinski both had clear-cut chances that Maignan turned away, but Matteo Politano missed two close-range efforts on goal for AC Milan.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was denied by Mike Maignan ten minutes before the end of regulation, but Victor Osimhen scored a consolation goal in stoppage time for Napoli, who welcomed back Osimhen after an injury. However, only two minutes after Hirving Lozano and Mathias Olivera entered the match, Rui and Politano were forced to leave the pitch due to injuries, delivering Luciano Spaletti’s team a double injury blow.
In order to get to the penalty area, Leao had to overcome three flying Milan challenges after picking up Tanguy Ndombele’s errant touch close to the edge of his own area.
When Giroud got the opportunity, the Portuguese international had the selfless wisdom to confront him, and the score read 1-0 in favour of AC Milan in the 43rd minute.
Hotshot Osimhen of Napoli came close to giving the “Giroud Show” an immediate reaction when he shot from close range in first-half stoppage time, but the goal was disallowed for a handball committed by the top scorer in Serie A during the buildup.
Lozano, Olivera, and Amir Rrahmani all had decent chances to equalise in the second quarter, which saw Napoli dominate play but be unable to score against a strong Milan defence.
Maignan continued to upset Napoli by making a close-range stop from Giacomo Raspadori. Despite Osimhen’s goal-bound effort past the Milan custodian two minutes from time, the league leaders now only need to clinch the Serie A championship. Milan will now focus on a potential semifinal matchup with Inter, who are leading 2-0 going into Wednesday night’s home leg of their Champions League quarterfinal against Benfica.
