Mueez Ajao
– Milan crashed out of the Coppa Italia in embarrassing fashion, as 10-man Torino grabbed an extra time victory at San Siro on the counter-attack.
– The Granata will face either Fiorentina or Sampdoria in the quarter-finals.
– The Rossoneri were in the middle of an injury crisis, missing Mike Maignan, Divock Origi, Fode Ballo-Toure, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Rade Krunic, Alessandro Florenzi, Simon Kjaer and Ante Rebic. With Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez rested, Stefano Pioli tested a 3-5-1-1 formation with Brahim Diaz supporting False 9 Charles De Ketelaere. Toro were without Pietro Pellegri, Ola Aina and Valentin Lazaro.
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– Ciprian Tatarusanu gave the ball away with a poor clearance intercepted by Tonny Sanabria, but made up for it with a great save on Sasa Lukic using his legs.
– Milan fought back, as Sergino Dest saw his strike deflected off Ricci so Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had to fingertip it at full stretch over the bar. On the resulting corner, De Ketelaere’s flicked header bounced off the inside of the far post with the goalkeeper beaten.
– Alexis Saelemaekers had a shot charged down and in stoppages Milinkovic-Savic just about got his gloves to a ferocious De Ketelaere strike.
– After the restart, a dangerous Lukic cross was just beyond Sanabria and Milinkovic-Savic parried the Tommaso Pobega attempt.
– Junior Messias almost scored with his first touch, trapping a Tonali ball over the top and failing to find the net from a tight angle.
– Moments later, the Brazilian was hacked down by Koffi Djidji on the counter-attack and it was the Torino defender’s second yellow card.
– Desperate to avoid extra time in a packed fixture list, Stefano Pioli threw on all the big guns available to break down 10-man Toro and returned to the usual formation.
– Sergino Dest cut inside and drilled inches wide through Megim Vojvoda’s legs, while Milinkovic-Savic pushed a dangerous cross off the head of Olivier Giroud.
– The goalkeeper also got down to fingertip a Theo Hernandez chest and volley round the near post, which is also where De Ketelaere’s back-heel flick went on the resulting corner.
– It did go to extra time, just as it did last time these sides met in the Coppa Italia, as Rafael Leao stung Milinkovic-Savic’s gloves from distance, so did Dest and only a desperate clearance prevented Olivier Giroud scoring on the rebound.
– Lukic blasted over from a promising position, while Demba Seck’s pull-back for Karol Linetty was intercepted at the last moment.
– Milinkovic-Savic rushed off his line to deny Giroud from point-blank range on a Leao cross flicked on by Tonali, while Leao fired over from the edge of the area.
– Just as Milan were pouring forward, they were caught on the counter-attack. Lukic’s inspired ball sent Bayeye sprinting down the right and he rolled it across the face of goal for fellow substitute Michel Adopo to apply the finish, getting in front of the home defenders.
– The Rossoneri put on a siege for the final minutes, a series of shots charged down and Milinkovic-Savic fumbling a Davide Calabria volley so it squirmed out of his grasp and landed on the roof of the net.
– It is the second time this season that Torino have beaten Milan, after a 2-1 Serie A result in October 2022.
