Pulisic strikes, Giroud saves as Milan move top in thriller at Genoa

Christian Pulisic shot AC Milan top of Serie A with a late goal in Saturday’s dramatic 1-0 win at Genoa in which both teams had their goalkeepers sent off in stoppage time after Inter Milan threw away a two-goal lead in their 2-2 draw with Bologna.

Pulisic struck with three minutes remaining when he spun and slammed home the goal which was only given after a long Video Assistant Referee check for a possible handball while the USA star controlled the ball.
The 25-year-old’s fourth goal since signing for Milan in the summer moved his team two points ahead of Inter, some revenge for the five-goal humiliation suffered in last month’s derby.

Saturday’s narrow win against a spirited Genoa missing Italy forward Mateo Retegui was Milan’s fourth in a row in Italy’s top flight since being thumped by Inter.

It came following a largely stodgy contest at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris which came alive in the final minutes and finished with both teams down to 10 in the most unlikely of fashions.

Mike Maignan was dismissed in stoppage time for charging out of his goal and clattering into Caleb Ekuban, meaning that Milan will be without him and his France teammate Theo Hernandez against Juventus next week and had to have Olivier Giroud in goal for the final seconds.

Giroud had to immediately face down a free-kick which Albert Gudmundsson clipped onto the crossbar.

Then moments later, after Genoa’s Josep Martinez was shown a second yellow card while charging back to his own goal from the subsequent corner, Giroud produced an unorthodox double save to make sure Milan took the three points back to the San Siro.