Late Pulisic strike sends Milan to the top of Serie A as clash with Genoa gets feisty
After drawing 0-0 in their midweek UEFA Champions League meeting with Borussia Dortmund, Milan were looking to return to winning ways in their final game before the international break.
The visitors offered signs of promise in the opening 20 minutes, as Alessandro Florenzi stung the palms of Josep Martinez before Tijjani Reijnders forced the goalkeeper into a fine stop – although the offside flag may have come to Genoa’s aid regardless.
As the half progressed, Milan were finding clear-cut opportunities hard to come by against a side that had taken four points from their previous two home matches against Napoli and Roma.
While the newly promoted hosts failed to trouble Mike Maignan in the opening period, they would have been happy enough not to have conceded prior to the interval.
Not content with his side’s underwhelming first-half display, Milan boss Stefano Pioli decided to introduce attacking duo Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao at the break.
Leao came close to vindicating his manager’s decision just after the hour mark, towering high in the box to meet Florenzi’s lofted cross and draw a superb reaction save from Martinez.
As they continued to frustrate the visitors, Genoa threatened to snatch all three points in the final 15 minutes when Radu Dragusin’s deflected effort tested Maignan’s quick reflexes.
Just as it seemed that Genoa had secured a well-earned point, their hard work was undone in the closing stages. A cross into the box was collected by Pulisic, who quickly swivelled and sent a left-foot strike into the bottom corner to spark wild scenes of jubilation among the travelling support.
There was to be more late drama when Maignan was shown a straight red card for a dangerous challenge in injury time, forcing Olivier Giroud to deputise as a stand-in goalkeeper.
In more unbelievable scenes, Maignan's Genoa counterpart Martinez was then dismissed deep into stoppage time but, despite all the chaos, Milan ultimately saw out the remaining seconds to head into the international period in pole position. Genoa, meanwhile, sit four points above the relegation zone in 15th.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Christian Pulisic (Milan)
