Bournemouth 3-0 AC Milan: Maignan sees red as the Rossoneri implode on the south coast

AC Milan fell to their second defeat in two Europa League games after a forgettable night on the south coast of England against AFC Bournemouth.

The tone for the night was set when Koni De Winter blocked a shot with his hand that drew a penalty which Justin Kluivert converted. Then, Mike Maignan shoved Tyler Adams in the face from a corner to draw a red card and a second spot kick that the Dutchman converted.

The third goal was a wonderful free-kick from Amine Adli to compound the misery. It was a nightmare first half that Milan simply could not recover from in the south coast rain, and it once again leaves them with an uphill battle to try and pursue the top eight places in the Europa League table.

First half: An absolute disaster

Ruben Amorim made six changes to the starting line-up from the team that beat Atalanta at the weekend. Fikayo Tomori, Pervis Estupinan, Ardon Jashari, Omari Hutchinson, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Alphadjo Cisse coming into the side.

The opening stages of the game were played in a torrential downpour that seemed to knock both teams off their stride, but the first crucial intervention of the game came from Estupinan, who dove in brilliantly at the far post to thwart a Kluivert shot.

From the resulting corner, Evanilson glanced a header wide that had the home fans thinking they’d taken the lead. The problem was that VAR showed it had hit Koni De Winter’s hand, and the referee gave a penalty after being called over to the monitor. Justin Kluivert converted against his father’s former club, sending Mike Maignan the wrong way.

The second major chance of the opening 20 minutes also fell to the home side, who looked much sharper in the south coast rain. This time it fell to Christie just outside the 18-yard box, though Maignan held it well.

Milan kept making lives easy for their hosts and they handed them another golden opportunity when Yunus Musah coughed up possession just outside his own box, though thankfully Evanilson fired straight at Maignan.

Maignan was called into action again to stop a deflected effort from Hill, but from the resulting corner he was given his marching orders for a shove in the face on Adams. Lorenzo Torriani came on to take his place for the penalty that followed, with Hutchinson coming off, and he couldn’t stop Kluivert making it 2-0.

Second half: Bad to worse

Amorim chose to make two changes ahead of the second half, with Davide Bartesaghi and Adrien Rabiot the ones to come on, replacing Estupinan and Loftus-Cheek.

The home side continued to look the team more likely to score given the circumstances, and a cross cleared for a corner saw a resulting set-piece that was whipped towards the far post but thankfully drifted wide, with Torriani unmoved.

The lasting image from the early parts of the second half was a rain-soaked Amorim barking out orders into the Dorset gale, hoping that his players could hear him across the pitch.

Things could have gone from bad to worse for the Rossoneri when Tomori brought Evanilson down on the break. The referee blew his whistle, giving the Englishman a yellow card, but the ball that went through afterwards seemed to have the home team in on goal.

With 25 minutes left on the clock and the roof leaking into the press gantry, Amorim made another change: Sankhoun Diawara came on, replacing Tomori after his yellow card.

As the game moved on into its final 20 minutes, it appeared to be a question of how many the home side would score rather than whether the Diavolo could somehow get their way back into things. There was a barrage of crosses from both sides, that ultimately didn’t yield the killer third goal.

The final change from Amorim came with 15 minutes left on the clock, as Christian Comotto was handed his first appearances in a competitive game, replacing Moreira.

In a final bitter twist, a third goal went in from a dead ball situation. A silly foul just outside the Milan box gave substitute Adli the chance to whip one over the wall and into the top left corner, leaving Torriani very little chance.

The scoreline could have been even worse if it weren’t for a for a wonderful save from Torriani to deny Rayan after his surging run into the box. By that time, the players just wanted the final whistle to blow.