Genoa vs AC Milan: Giroud plays as goalkeeper, Pulisic scores winner as ex-Chelsea stars save Pioli's men

Genoa vs AC Milan: Giroud plays as goalkeeper, Pulisic scores winner as ex-Chelsea stars save Pioli's men

Faruq Ibrahim 22:11 - 07.10.2023

Samuel Chukwueze's drought continues while Pulisic shines on as AC Milan beat Genoa.

Milan looked headed for consecutive draws before a late Christian Pulisic strike won them maximum points.

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Stefano Pioli's men travelled to Luigi Ferraris Stadium to face Genoa after a disappointing midweek draw in the Champions League to Dortmund and were set for a repeat result but for a timely Pulisic goal.

How it happened

Pioli named a heavily rotated side from the team that drew against Dortmund on Wednesday, with Ckukwueze, Noah Okafor, Luka Jovic, Yaccine Adli, and Alessandro Florenzi all coming in, while star forwards Rafael Leao, Olivier Giroud, and Christian Pulisic were all dropped to the bench, alongside Davide Calabria and Tommaso Pobega.

With the first-half remaining goalless, the Italian coach brought on the big guns at half-time, in a bid to change their fortunes, but the scoreline remained the same until at least the dying embers of the game.

Pulisic came close to breaking the deadlock in the 80th minute, but his shot was blocked. Seven 

Christian Pulisic scored the winner for Milan || Image credit: Imago
Christian Pulisic scored the winner for Milan || Image credit: Imago

Minutes later, however, he would not be denied; shooting from around the same spot in the box, his attempt evaded bodies and lodged itself in the bottom right corner.

Olivier Giroud kept a clean sheet in Genoa vs Milan || Image credit: Imago
Olivier Giroud kept a clean sheet in Genoa vs Milan || Image credit: Imago

Drama ensued afterwards as AC Milan goalie Mike Maignan was shown red, and due to the exhaustion of allowed substitutions, Giroud had to replace his compatriot in the middle of the sticks. He made a save late on to keep Milan in front, as Pioli’s team earned a hard-fought three points upon referee Marco Piccinini blowing the final whistle.

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