AC Milan too good for Slavia Prague
AC Milan saw off 10-man Slavia Prague 4-2 at San Siro in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie.
After Slavia defender El Hadji Malick Diouf was shown a straight red card in the 26th minute, the Rossoneri made the most of their advantage with first-half goals from Olivier Giroud, Tijjani Reijnders and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
David Doudera had earlier given the Czech side hope with an fine strike to make it 1-1 and Ivan Schranz reduced the deficit midway through the second half before Christian Pulisic’s close-range effort late on gave Milan breathing space heading into the return leg.
Having dropped out of the Champions League, Stefano Pioli’s men came through the play-off round, beating Rennes 5-3 on aggregate, while Slavia had finished first in Group G ahead of Roma.
It had been a bright start by the home side, with right-back Alessandro Florenzi clipping a free-kick from the edge of the penalty area just over the crossbar.
Slavia Prague, though, created the clearest opening of the early exchanges when an angled ball picked out Diouf in the left side of the penalty area, but the defender completely missed his kick.
The Czech visitors continued to offer a threat on the counter attack, and in the 15th minute Doudera sliced his shot wide after breaking into the right side of the box.
Slavia Prague found themselves down to 10 men after just 26 minutes when Diouf was shown a straight red card for catching Pulisic on the ankle with his late sliding challenge.
Milan broke the deadlock in the 34th minute when Giroud headed in at the far post from Rafael Leao’s deflected curling cross out on the left.
Slavia, however, hit back straight away as Doudera fired a superb right-footed volley in off the post when the ball dropped to him at the edge of the penalty area following a corner.
Giroud saw his effort saved by Slavia keeper Jindrich Stanek, who then got down to palm away Matteo Gabbia’s header.
Milan’s pressure finally told just before the break when Reijnders drove in a low shot from 20 yards after a quick corner was pushed out to the left side of the penalty area.
It was 3-1 in first-half stoppage time when England midfielder Loftus-Cheek powered in a header from a corner.
Soon after the restart, Leao flashed a low drive across the face of goal and Slavia continued to sit deep looking to limit further damage.
The Czechs, though, reduced the deficit in the 65th minute when Schranz fired in an angled strike after Milan again failed to clear a free-kick.
Frustration started to creep in from the home crowd as the Rossoneri failed to break down Slavia’s resolute backline.
Milan eventually restored some breathing space with five minutes left when Leao’s angled chip across goal was touched over the line by Pulisic.
