Milan 3-2 S Bratislava (26 Nov 2024) Match Analysis

AC Milan earned their third consecutive Champions League win with a 3-2 victory at Slavonic Bratislava on Tuesday, where he held on as the home side looked to stage a late comeback.

Milan arrived on the back of a 3-1 win at Real Madrid while Slovan were beaten 4-1 Dinamo Zagreb last time out in the tournament, but for large parts of the game the home side looked more than capable of causing their visitors real problems.

The first half ended level with Milan’s Christian Pulisic opened the scoring in the 21st minute before a quick counter attack led to Slovan’s Tigran Barseghyan equalizer three minutes later.

Milan had a hard time putting Slovan away before the substitution Rafael Leão put them back in front in the 68th minute and Tammy Abraham exploited a horror back-pass from David Strelec to extend their lead three minutes later.

Slovan pulled a goal back Nino Marcelli in the 88th minute, and also had Marko Tolic late sent off, but Milan came through the late drama to move on to nine points.

Slovan, with no points, remains rooted at the bottom of the standings.

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Milan controlled play in Slovan’s half for the first 15 minutes without creating any real danger before a quick counter from the home side almost let them take the lead.

Barseghyan’s pass sent Strelec through on goal, where he rounded the keeper, but his finish lacked the power to Strahinja Pavlovic slide in to block the shot.

The visitors finally made their possession count when a through ball from Abraham on the halfway line set Pulisic free and he raced into the area before angling his low shot into the far corner.

Milan did not learn their lesson from Slovan’s previous counter and this time Barseghyan collected the ball in his own half without a single opposition player in front of him.

Tijjani Reijnders was the nearest Milan player but he couldn’t keep up and Barseghyan calmly lifted the ball over the oncoming Maigan.

Milan sent Leao on at the start of the second half and the Portuguese winger put them back in front after Youssouf Fofana‘s cross-field pass found him in front of his marker to coolly slot the ball past the keeper.

It all looked Slovan as Strelec played a pass back into the box which only went as far as Abraham, who had the simple task of turning and firing a shot past the helpless keeper.

The game looked all but a contest, but Marcelli’s stunning strike from outside the area suddenly gave Slovan hope, but all they could muster was Tolic getting double-booked for a foul and dissent, and Milan survived to take all three point.