Match Recap: Milan pick up three vital points in a 2-0 win on the road over Genoa

AC Milan traveled to Genoa with almost more attention being paid to who was not playing in the match rather than who would actually take the pitch, with Gonzalo Higauin being left out pending a move to Chelsea and a certain striker from Genoa possibly being called to replace the Argentina international at striker for Milan.

The first half featured plenty of attacking from Genoa, with a very limited number of chances for Milan. Gigio Donnarumma had to bail out Milan on a number of different occasions, as it appeared that Genoa was doing just fine missing out on their suspended striker Krzysztof Piątek, who appears to be set for a move to Milan in the very near future.

Milan were forced into an early change, as Cristian Zapata went down injured early in the match. Andrea Conti was forced to come on in the 12th minute and Ignazio Abate had to switch from right back to centre back.

Conti provided some better attacking down the right flank than Abate, but Milan were unable to really get anything going, with Suso’s final ball eluding him and Milan constantly resorting to “Suso-ball” and seemed to not have much of a shape.

Genoa, however, put a lot of pressure on the Milan goal, with a number of chances that came worryingly close from a Milan point of view, with Donnarumma being forced into a number of good saves.

Milan’s best chance of the half came right at the death, as new signing Paqueta hit the post after pulling off a good volley for the shot. It would have totally came against the run of play and perhaps would have been a take lucky for Milan to take the lead, but it still was the best chance for Milan in the first half.

The second half started a bit better for Milan, as they looked to apply some pressure on Genoa who, after their hot start, had started to slow down and did not look nearly as attacking as they did in the first half.

Paqueta provided a moment of magic for Milan in the 53rd minute, as he did a rainbow flick over a Genoa defender. And yes, the move didn’t quite go as planned, but it was still nice to see Milan have a player with some flair again.

Fabio Borini came close on a couple of occasions, and his shot from the left nearly clipped the far post before going out of play, and Milan started to ask some questions of the Genoa defense, while at the other end, Donnarumma was still providing a good last line of defense and was doing his best to keep Genoa off the scoreline.

Borini’s attacking intent earlier in the match was paid off in the 72nd minute, as he was left all alone in front of goal and Andrea Conti was able to pick out the winger after a good run into the penalty box from the right. Borini made no mistake, and Milan took a somewhat unlikely lead in the 72nd minute.

Hakan Calhanoglu pulled up with what appeared to be a slight knock and was replaced in the 79th minute by Jose Mauri as Milan looked to ride out the lead and get an important win on the road.

Suso scored on a shot with his right (!) foot in the 83rd minute after Cutrone had played Suso in with a wonderfully weighted ball that Suso was able to run onto and after the defender took away a shot with his left foot, Suso’s shot with his right surprised everyone and went into the back of the net.

Bakayoko had created the chance by winning the ball outside of the Milan penalty box and with Genoa pressing forward for an equalizer, Milan had plenty of space to run into and Suso was able to put in an insurance goal that pretty much sealed the match for Milan.

Suso was subbed off late for Samu Castillejo, but the damage had already pretty much been done by that point, and Milan simply played out the rest of the match and survived the three minutes of stoppage time to get a good win on the road and move ahead of their direct rivals and into the fourth and final Champions League spot.