AC Milan 3-1 Club Brugge: Reijnders brace fires Rossoneri to first UCL win | OneFootball

AC Milan finally got off the mark in the Champions League with a 3-1 victory against Club Brugge, with Tijjani Reijnders scoring a match-winning brace.

Milan took the lead through rather strange circumstances as Christian Pulisic fired in a corner that beat everyone at the near post and nestled in. Then, when Raphael Onyedika saw red for a studs-up challenge, it looked like the home side were well in control.

Ten-man Brugge got themselves level through Sabbe to stun the San Siro crowd, but then two substitutes – Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze – each set up Tijjani Reijnders as the Rossoneri scored twice in quick succession to earn the victory.

Francesco Camarda made a record-breaking debut and he was inches away from making Champions League history when he headed in a cross to spark pandemonium, before VAR intervened to chalk it off for offside.

After making five changes for the game against Udinese on Saturday, Paulo Fonseca again made five alterations to the line-up. Matteo Gabbia and Fikayo Tomori came it at centre-back, Theo Hernandez returned at left-back (his suspension only applies in Serie A), while Rafael Leao and Ruben Loftus-Cheek came in too.

Less than two minutes into the game Brugge should have perhaps stunned the home crowd with their first major attack. Tzolis was put into a shooting position on the left side of the box and fired a low drive at Mike Maignan, who just about got it away. Less than a minute later a cut-back found Jugtlà inside the box who probably should have done better than a first-time effort over the bar.

Rafael Leao was getting a bit of joy down the left and yet it was the Belgians who once again came close to scoring twice in quick succession. The first was another shot from Tzolis, this time a curler that was bending inside the far post that Maignan tipped away, and from the resulting corner Onyedika rattled the crossbar with a shot from over 25 yards out.

Milan settled into the game a bit more after early scares, and in the 15th minute had their first shot through Youssouf Fofana who perhaps should have done better from 20 yards out after an uncontested dribble through midfield.

The Rossoneri worked a good scoring chance from their first set piece as a corner was recycled for a cross to come in that Gabbia stooped to head wide. Mignolet made his first save a minute later as some nice link-up play on the edge of the box saw Leao’s tumbling run find Christian Pulisic, whose low shot was saved by the legs of the Belgian.

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The theme of the game for the first 30 minutes was saves by the goalkeepers’ legs, and Maignan again denied Tzolis with what was basically a carbon copy of a previous chance as he had been given space to shoot on the left side of the box.

In the 34th minute, Milan did take the lead and it came in rather bizarre circumstances. Pulisic lined up to take a corner on the left side and went for the usual low whipping delivery to the near post, yet it somehow evaded both runners and Mignolet between the posts to end up in the back of the net, making it 1-0 to the hosts.

Two minutes after the opening goal, things got a lot worse for the visitors as they were reduced to 10 men. Onyedika and Reijnders came together battling for a loose ball and both went down in pain, with the referee whistling for a Brugge free-kick, yet the replays showed the Nigerian had stamped on the Dutchman’s ankle and he was sent off after a VAR review.

Milan had the first attempt of the first half as they went in search of a second goal to obtain full command, though Theo failed to keep his first-time effort down after a cut-back from Leao. A minute later, a corner was taken short to the edge of the box and Pulisic curled a shot wide that was from a good position.

In the 51st minute Milan were made to pay for missing opportunities as 10-man Brugge equalised. The two substitutes who came on at half-time combined for it as a flowing move from one side of the box to the other saw Vetlesen receive the ball with his back to goal and find Sabbe, who buried a low shot inside the far post.

Just before the hour mark, Fonseca elected to make a double change as Leao and Ruben Loftus-Cheek made way for Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze. The removal of Leao in particular seemed to draw jeers from the home crowd, however it would prove to be an inspired change.

Okafor picked up the ball on the left wing a minute after coming on and surged down the left side, beating the full-back to the byline and producing a fantastic cut-back that Reijnders was on hand to drill in first time past Mignolet and into the back of the net, restoring the lead.

Inside the final 20 minutes, Reijnders doubled his tally for the night with what was a copy goal from his first but coming down the other flank. This time it was Chukwueze who skipped past his opponent on the right and cut-back for Reijnders who – again with his side foot – found the back of the net, though this time he nestled it into the corner more.

In minute 75, Camarda made history by becoming the youngest ever Italian player to appear in the Champions League, coming on for Morata. There were incredible scenes when the 16-year-old headed in a corner a few minutes from time after a short corner, with the striker taking his shirt off and being raised aloft by his team-mates, before VAR intervened to give offside.