Milan 3-1 Genoa (aet): Leao and Saelemaekers seal Coppa Italia progress

Leo
Ostigard’s
first-half
header
gave
the
visitors
the
lead
on
Andriy
Shevchenko’s
return
to
San
Siro.

However,
Milan’s
persistence
after
the
break
paid
dividends
as
Oliver
Giroud
nodded
home
an
equaliser
with
16
minutes
remaining,
and
substitutes
Rafael
Leao
and
Alexis
Saelemaekers
completed
the
turnaround
in
the
additional
half-hour
to
send
Stefano
Pioli’s
side
through.

Genoa
had
lost
each
of
their
13
previous
matches
at
this
stage
of
the
Coppa
Italia,
last
reaching
the
quarter-finals
in
1991-92.

Nevertheless,
the
visitors
took
the
lead
in
the
17th
minute
as
Ostigard
rose
to
head
home
Manolo
Portanova’s
corner.

Milan
then
lost
Fikayo
Tomori
to
injury
midway
through
the
first
half,
the
former
Chelsea
centre-back
limping
off
to
be
replaced
by
Alessandro
Florenzi.

Things
almost
got
worse
for
the
hosts
before
the
break
when
Portanova
squandered
a
great
opportunity
by
shooting
wide
from
inside
the
six-yard
box.

The
Rossoneri
had
never
been
beaten
by
Genoa
on
home
soil
in
this
competition
and
they
turned
up
the
pressure
after
the
restart,
enjoying
well
over
70
per
cent
of
the
possession.

They
were
finally
rewarded
in
the
74th
minute
as
Giroud
brilliantly
headed
past
Adrian
Semper
from
Theo
Hernandez’s
inviting
cross.

It
continued
to
be
one-way
traffic
in
extra
time,
Leao
drawing
a
smart
save
out
of
Semper,
while
Sandro
Tonali’s
vicious
long-range
drive
was
inches
wide
of
the
target.

But
Genoa’s
resistance
was
finally
broken
by
Leao
in
the
102nd
minute
–
albeit
in
fortunate
circumstances
–
as
the
Portugal
international’s
attempted
cross
looped
over
Semper
and
in
off
the
far
post.

Saelemaekers
then
sealed
the
deal
five
minutes
after
the
restart,
turning
home
from
Hernandez’s
square
ball.