Milan, Italy, qualified for the golden square of the UEFA Champions League, with a 1-1 draw with its host and compatriot Napoli, on Tuesday, in the second leg of the quarter-finals.
Milan won the first-leg match with a goal without a response, to excel in the aggregate of the two matches, with two goals to one.
Milan advanced with a goal to French striker Olivier Giroud in the 43rd minute, after wasting a penalty in the 21. th minute. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia also missed a penalty kick for Napoli in the 82nd minute, before his Nigerian colleague Victor Osimhen scored the equalizing goal for the landlords in the last seconds.
Milan is chasing its eighth Champions League title and its first since the 2006-2007 season.
Milan will meet in the Golden Square with the winner of Manchester City’s confrontation with Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, where the first-leg match ended with the English team winning 3 goals without a response, before the return match that brings them together tomorrow, Wednesday, at the Allianz Arena.
The match started cautiously, with each team keen to secure its net from any surprise goal that might make the task difficult.
With the passage of time, Napoli began to impose its control over the course of the game, and the team got a direct free kick on the borders of the penalty area, but Mario Roy fired outside the net.
A new opportunity arose for Napoli after a wonderful individual effort from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who penetrated the Milan penalty area, and hit a creeping ball, but goalkeeper Mike Minyan saved it easily.
Missed opportunities continued for the Napoli team, most notably a powerful shot by Matteo Politano from the edge of the penalty area, but the ball passed past Milan’s goal.
Milan responded with a surprise shot by David Calabria from the edge of the penalty area, but Napoli goalkeeper Alex Merritt stopped him on the lookout.
The referee awarded a penalty kick to Milan after Mario Roy blocked Rafael Leao, and Giroud rushed to shoot, but goalkeeper Alex Merritt brilliantly saved the situation.
Milan missed an opportunity in the 28th minute after an organized attack that ended with Giro, who penetrated the Napoli penalty area and hit a powerful ball, but the Naples goalkeeper saved his goal from another goal.
Napoli made a damaging change with Matteo Politano leaving for injury and Hirving Lozano participating, and immediately after that Mario Roy left the field and Matias Oliveira participated in his place.
Two minutes before the end of the first half, Jiro scored the first goal for Milan, after a wonderful individual effort from Rafael Liao from the middle of the stadium, and made his way towards the homeowners’ goal before passing to Jiro, who fired easily into the net.
In the fourth minute of stoppage time, the referee canceled a goal for Napoli, due to the presence of a handball against Victor Osimhen.
Two minutes after the start of the second half, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was about to score the equalizer for Napoli, after he penetrated Milan’s defenses and hit a powerful ball, but it went a few centimeters above the crossbar.
Napoli intensified its offensive pressure in search of the equalizer, and another opportunity was missed for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, after he penetrated into Milan’s defenses and hit a powerful ball, but it also passed over the net.
Substitute Hirving Lozano almost equalized for Napoli in the 60th minute with a powerful shot from inside the penalty area, but it passed directly over Milan’s goal.
Contrary to the course of play, Milan almost scored its second goal in the 68th minute with a direct free kick by Sandro Tonali, but Alex Merritt, Naples goalkeeper, pushed the ball away with his fist.
Napoli got a penalty kick as a result of a handball against Fikayo Tomori, but Milan goalkeeper Mike Mignan brilliantly blocked Khvica Kvaratskhelia’s shot in the 82nd minute.
And in stoppage time for the match, Osimhen responded with a goal for Napoli after a cross pass from Giacomo Raspadori inside the penalty area, which the Nigerian striker met with his head in the net.
