Milan had a terrible start but promptly put themselves back on track on Thursday night as they collected a 4-2 win over Celtic Glasgow in their penultimate Europa League Group stage game. The Rossoneri thus booked their place in the Round of 32 one week in advance and can afford the luxury of taking their last game with Sparta Praha next Thursday easy.
The game at the San Siro, however, was all but a stroll in the park for Steafano Pioli – who was coming back in the dugout after missing three games due to testing positive for Covid – as Milan found themselves down 0-2 after just 13 minutes.
They had the merit of not losing their composure and eventually made their superior skills make the difference as Celtic progressively let themselves go. Milan found the back of the next with four difference players despite the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the not-so-positive night of his designated substitute Ante Rebic.
Celebrating our passage to the next round! ?
— AC Milan (@acmilan) December 3, 2020
Qualificazione ottenuta: ben fatto ragazzi!?#MilanCeltic #SempreMilan #UEL pic.twitter.com/zeLuBsRsaS
The Rossoneri seemed to be off to a good start but a macroscopic Rade Krunic mistake in the build-up put Tom Rogic in condition to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma and gave the green armada the lead after just seven minutes.
Four more minutes, and things got worse as Simon Kjaer got injured and had to leave the pitch. Stefano Pioli’s plan to give Alessio Romagnoli some rest thus had to change as Milan’s captain made his entrance to the pitch to replace the Dane.
The Rossoneri seemed to be dazed and conceded another chance to Celtic, with Donnarumma denying Jeremie Frimpong from close range. He couldn’t do anything, however, when Odsonne Edouard was served by Ryan Christie with a fine filtering pass and lobbed the ball past him to double the Scots’ lead.
Milan however reacted in the best possible way – i.e. reducing the gap as fast as possible. On 23 minutes, Hakan Calhanoglu drove a free kick into the top-left corner of the goal defended by Vasilis Barkas. That seemed to boost the home side’s confidence and prompted an equalizer just two minutes later, as Samu Castillejo found himself in the right place to finish from a left-side cross initiated again by Calhanoglu.
In the 33rd minute, Castillejo could also make it three but, after being served in the box, waited too much before shooting and gave Celtic defenders’ the time to block his effort. The Rossoneri were now in berserk mode and tested Barkas even from a corner kick, with Calhanoglu aiming directly to the goal target and prompting the Greek goalkeeper to parry his effort away.
?⚫©️ @gigiodonna1 to captain tonight's team with Alessio Romagnoli starting on the bench
— AC Milan (@acmilan) December 3, 2020
?⚫©️ Gigio Capitano con Romagnoli che parte in panchina#MilanCeltic #UEL #SempreMian@EASPORTSFIFA pic.twitter.com/f512biuLEb
After the break, Sandro Tonali replaced Rade Krunic as the Bosnian struggled to recover from his early mistake and was in difficulty for the full first half.
But it was Jans Petter Hauge to steal the spotlight as he put Milan ahead with a fantastic goal, driving the ball into the bottom right corner after dribbling past two defenders in the process. The young Norwegian confirmed his feeling with the Europa League games – that’s how the Rossoneri noticed him, after all.
The Scots didn’t seem to be doing much to try to re-balance the game, except for a new Frimpong chance in the 62nd minute that didn’t find the goal target.
With the game now seemingly in his hands, Stefano Pioli started to think about the next Serie A test and gave rest to some of his men: Ismael Bennacer and Brahim Diaz replaced Franck Kessié and Hakan Calhanoglu.
Celtic were still alive: In the 72nd minute, Christie came up with a dangerous curling effort from a set piece but Donnarumma’s answer was worth his fame as one the best European goalkeepers.
But soon enough, the game was done and dusted for Pioli’s side as Brahim Diaz made it to the scoresheet with a sublime lob that put the ball beyond past Barkas. Much to the credit went, once again, to Hauge – whose impact on the left flank was devastating. The Norwegian bested two of his markers again and served the Spaniard a filtering pass that only asked to be finalized.
That was the end of it, with Milan switching into cruise control mode and starting to think about next Sunday’s Serie A game against Sampdoria, where the Rossoneri will have to defend their five-point lead in the table.
MATCH REPORT
December 3, 2020 – Europa League 2020-21 Group Stage
MILAN-CELTIC GLASGOW 4-2
SCORERS: 7′ Rogic (C), 14′ Edouard (C), 23′ Calhanoglu (M), 25′ Castillejo (M), 49′ Hauge (M), 82′ Brahim Diaz (M)
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MILAN (4-2-3-1): G. Donnarumma; Diogo Dalot, Gabbia, Kjaer (11′ Romagnoli), Hernandez; Krunic (46′ Tonali), Kessié (61′ Bennacer); Calhanoglu (61′ Brahim Diaz), Castillejo, Hauge; Rebic (83′ Colombo) (A. Donnarumma, Tatarusanu, Calabria, Duarte, Kalulu, Maldini, Salemaekers) Coach: Pioli |
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CELTIC GLASGOW (4-2-3-1): Barkas; Elhamed, Bitton, Ajer, Laxalt; McGregor, Brown (78′ Soro), Christie (86′ Klimala), Rogic (67′ Ntcham), Frimpong; Edouard (Bain, Hazard, Ajeti, Henderson, Julien, Taylor, Welsh) Coach: Lennon |
REFEREE: Bengoechea (Spain)
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Christie, Rogic Brown (C); Extra Time: First Half 1′, Second Half 3′
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