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AC Milan stormed to their first-ever UEFA Champions League semifinal in 16 years, following a win over Napoli 2-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw with the Italian side on Tuesday.
The match will be remembered for the redemption of star striker Olivier Giroud, who first missed a goal but came back with a thunderous goal later. Milan had arrived to the match with a one-goal advantage from the previous leg. But they missed their best chance to double it as Giroud's spot kick was saved by Alex Meret an hour or so into the match. Napoli made a quick start with the help of that backing. Maignan stopped straightforward chances from Kvaratskhelia and Piotr Zielinski, while Matteo Politano had two near-post shots miss the AC Milan goal. Leao was brought down by Mario Rui's careless challenge to win a penalty, and Stefano Pioli's team was handed a fantastic opportunity to score their opening goal of the evening. The Rossoneri defence held strong. Meret correctly predicted that Giroud would make more commotion among the Napoli fans when he moved forward. Minutes before the break, Rafael Leao went on a superb run from the edge of his box to the penalty area, before assisting Giroud who tapped the ball right into the net in the 43rd minute. Napoli, who welcomed back Victor Osimhen after an injury, as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was denied by Mike Maignan ten minutes before the full-time. But Osimhen scored a consolation goal in the stoppage time. But, within two minutes of Hirving Lozano and Mathias Olivera entering the game, Rui and Politano were forced out due to injuries, dealing a double injury blow to Luciano Spaletti's team. Giroud's close-range attempt was expertly stopped by Meret shortly before halftime, but the Napoli custodian would not allow Milan to benefit from the change. In order to get to the penalty area, Leao had to overcome three flying Milan challenges after picking up Tanguy Ndombele's errant touch close to the edge of his own area. When Giroud got the opportunity, the Portuguese international had the selfless wisdom to confront him, the scoreline read 1-0 in favour of AC Milan in the 43rd minute. Hotshot Osimhen of Napoli came close to giving the "Giroud Show" an immediate reaction when he shot from close range in first-half stoppage time, but the goal was disallowed for a handball committed by the top scorer in Serie A during the buildup. After the interval, the home team continued to exert themselves as Kvaratskhelia missed two opportunities from the left in the first few minutes of the second half. Lozano, Olivera, and Amir Rrahmani all had decent chances to equalise in the second quarter, which saw Napoli dominate play but unable to score against a strong Milan defence. In the 82nd minute, Elfir Elmas' cross struck Fikayo Tomori in the hand, and the referee pointed to the spot, giving Napoli hope that they were about to enter the match. But, Maignan wisely blocked Kvaratskhelia's penalty kick in Napoli's final wasted action of the game. Maignan continued to upset Napoli by making a close-range stop from Giacomo Raspadori. Despite Osimhen's goal-bound effort past the Milan custodian two minutes from time, the league leaders now only need to clinch the Serie A championship. Milan will now focus on a potential semifinal matchup with Inter, who are leading 2-0 going into Wednesday night's home leg of their Champions League quarterfinal against Benfica. (ANI)
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