Chukwueze stays on the bench as AC Milan exact revenge on PSG for first leg defeat

Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leao rescued the game for AC Milan | Imago

Chukwueze stays on the bench as AC Milan exact revenge on PSG for first leg defeat

Ayoola Kelechi 23:16 - 07.11.2023

AC Milan scored their first UEFA Champions League win of the season against Paris Saint-Germain, but there was no sight of Super Eagles forward Samuel Chukwueze, who remained on the bench for the duration of 90 minutes

Super Eagles forward Samuel Chukwueze was relegated to a role on the bench as AC Milan avenged their humiliating first-leg loss to Paris Saint-Germain with a scintillating win at the San Siro to finally kickstart their UEFA Champions League campaign.

After going through their opening three group stage fixtures without a win, AC Milan finally broke their European duck with a 2-1 win over PSG, coming full circle after a 3-0 in the first leg.

Goals from Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud were enough for the Rossoneri to overturn an early Milan Skriniar goal to claim all three points.

How it happened

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.co.ke/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

Without a win in their first three matches of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League, it appeared that it would be more misery for AC Milan hosting PSG as the visitors took an early lead through former Inter centre-back Skriniar, who headed home from Marquinhos’ flick on. 

However, it took the Rossoneri only three minutes to find a reply to PSG’s opener, as Rafael Leao scored one of the goals of the week, contorting to score a superb over-head kick to make it 1-1. 

Rafael Leao's incredible overhead kick against PSG Imago
Rafael Leao's incredible overhead kick against PSG Imago

The rest of the first half frittered away with no real action to speak of, and the second half threatened to go the same way until Giroud powered home a controversial header to make it 2-1 to the home side. 

Just before the goal, PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma signalled for the game to be stopped as Leao appeared injured in the penalty box, but Milan continued with play, with Theo Hernandez’ cross finding Giroud, who scored with a deft header. 

The win sees Milan move to third in the Group of Death, while PSG remain second behind Borussia Dortmund, who claimed back-to-back victories over Newcastle. 

Related content