Serie A – Leão's header helps Stanciu miss a penalty, AC Milan hold Genoa to a 1-1 draw at home.

2026-01-09 08:59

In the 19th round of the 2025/26 Serie A season, AC Milan drew 1-1 with Genoa at home. They are currently second in the standings with 39 points (11 wins, 6 draws, 1 loss), three points behind league leaders Inter Milan.

AC Milan quickly took control at the start of the first half. In the 7th minute, Davide Baltesacchi crossed from the right, and Matteo Gabbia's header in the penalty area was saved by Nicola Lealli. In the 9th minute, Alex Saelemaekers crossed from the right, and Strashinja Pavlovic's close-range header went just over the bar.

However, it was Genoa, playing away, who broke the deadlock first. In the 28th minute, Ruslan Malinovskyi dribbled past Adrian Rabiot and delivered a diagonal pass from the edge of the penalty area, allowing Lorenzo Colombo to volley home the opening goal.

After conceding the goal, Milan launched a series of counter-attacks and created several threats in the latter part of the first half. In the 36th minute, Brooke Norton-Caffie's clearance error nearly resulted in an own goal assist, but fortunately Rafael Leão's close-range hook shot was saved by Leali. Fofana then inexplicably slipped in front of an open goal, causing Milan to miss a golden opportunity to equalize.

After the break, AC Milan's attacks on Genoa continued. In the 58th minute, Gabbia headed the ball across for Christian Pulisic to score, but the referee, after VAR review, ruled that Pulisic had committed a handball foul. In the 65th minute, Ruben Loftus-Cheek crossed from the right, and Baltesagi's shot at the far post went just wide. In the 76th minute, Baltesagi delivered a cross from the left, and Pulisic's header in the box was saved by Lealli. In the 87th minute, Pavlovic cut back from the left, and Pulisic's volley forced a brilliant save from Lealli.

In the second minute of stoppage time in the second half, Morten Freundrup's clearance error during a corner kick resulted in an own goal assist, allowing Leao to head home a last-minute equalizer. In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Baltesagi conceded a penalty after a foul on Mikael Elletsen in the box, but Nicola Stanciu failed to capitalize on the chance to win. His penalty kick flew directly into the stands, and Genoa ultimately only managed to take a point.