Milan hold firm to deny Napoli after Leão’s solo run and Maignan’s saves
Milan reached the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in 16 years, after surviving a barrage of pressure at Napoli on Tuesday, thanks to a first-half goal from Olivier Giroud that secured a 1-1 draw and 2-1 aggregate success.
Napoli battled until the end but could not break down the resilient Milan defence until Victor Osimhen equalised three minutes into stoppage time with a bullet header but it was too late as the referee ended the match seconds later.
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In the last four Milan will face either their city neighbours Internazionale, or Benfica.
After Milan won 1-0 in the quarter-final first leg, Napoli pushed for the opening goal from the start as the visitors were forced to defend deep.
Milan were awarded a penalty after 22 minutes when Mario Rui clattered into Rafael Leão but the Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret dived to stop Giroud’s low strike.
As a result of the intense pressure exerted by the hosts, Milan were able to exploit the holes in the home defence and went ahead through Giroud just before half-time.
Rafael Leão sprinted with the ball from his own half past the Napoli defence before rolling it across to Giroud, who slotted home from close range.
Napoli had a glimmer of hope eight minutes from time when Fikayo Tomori handled the ball inside the box, but Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s penalty was saved by Mike Maignan.
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Osimhen was shackled all night until his added-time header but it came too late for Napoli and their disappointed fans.