AC Milan Beat Panathinaikos 2-1 In Final Pre Season Friendly As Giroud Shows Experience

AC Milan took one Panathinaikos in their fourth and final game of the European Summer Tour sponsored by Socios.com. The game was played in Trieste with some fans present as Stefano Pioli tested out his players one week ahead of the Serie A kick off. Milan came away with a 2-1 win but dominated the game and looked much more threatening in attack compared to the previous three games.

Olivier Giroud opened the scoring in the 16th minute as Fikayo Tomori picked out a lovely lofted pass over the defence and the Frenchman slotted home with the first touch. Ante Rebic as threatning with a couple of shots that got blocked. But it was Giroud who came through with a second goal off another incredible pass from Davide Calabria that was curled around the defence allowing Giroud to make a late run at the back post and gently nod the ball into the back of the net. The French striker almost completed the hat trick in the second half when Theo Hernandez made an incredible run and put a piercing pass through the middle for Giroud who went around the the keeper and pass into the goal but a light touch from the keeper pushed onto the sidebar. Ciprian Tatarusanu had a howler in the dying minutes of the game just after coming off the bench as he received the ball and struggled to release in time allowing the striker to intercept and score for 2-1.

A good game from most of the players but still a glaring gap in attack and the need for a fit Bennacer and Kessie was shown.

You can watch the highlights here or below.