Champions League | Porto 1-0 Milan: Diaz beats the Diavolo
Decimated Milan fell to a third consecutive Champions League defeat, but again felt the refereeing wasn’t helpful, as there might’ve been a foul in the build-up to the FC Porto winner.
The Rossoneri had lost both group games so far, albeit in unlucky and at times controversial circumstances, and the injury crisis kept getting worse. Franck Kessie was suspended, Theo Hernandez and Brahim Diaz had COVID-19, with Ante Rebic, Mike Maignan, Junior Messias, Alessandro Florenzi and Alessandro Plizzari out of action. Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his comeback at the weekend and was only fit for the bench. Porto had drawn away to Atletico Madrid and lost 5-1 at home to Liverpool, dropping former Milan transfer target Tecatito Corona.
There was an early scare, as at the fifth minute Luis Diaz’s angled dive from distance thumped the base of the upright.
Medhi Taremi fired wide with the inside of the right boot after Alexis Saelemaekers was harassed into an error, while Olivier Giroud failed to steer his header on target from a Rafael Leao cross.
Simon Kjaer threw himself in the way of another Taremi strike, then the same player turned a free header wide and his curler off the outside of the right boot flashed just past the far bottom post.
Giroud’s header was straight at the goalkeeper, but Taremi drilled inches wide after Fikayo Tomori slipped. The English defender made up for it with a crucial block on Otavio, but Porto eventually did break through when Taremi collided with Ismael Bennacer on the edge of the box, allowing Luis Diaz to smash a daisy-cutter into the far bottom corner. Milan wanted a free kick for the barge on Bennacer, but the referee and VAR considered it to be a fair challenge.
The Rossoneri had Zlatan Ibrahimovic on, but effectively created very few chances.
Porto 1-0 Milan
Luis Diaz 65 (P)