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Manchester United suffered heartbreak in the final seconds of their UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie against AC Milan as Simon Kjaer's late goal canceled out an excellent opener from Amad Diallo. They are now tasked with scoring at least one goal at the San Siro, setting up a blockbuster second leg of the encounter next week.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer opted for four changes from the side that ended Manchester City's historic win streak at the Etihad, with Eric Bailly, Alex Telles, Nemanja Matic, and Mason Greenwood being drafted into the XI. Milan also had to field a largely altered side with the likes of ex-Red Devil Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Theo Hernandez, Hakan Calhanoglu, Alessio Romagnoli, and other star names missing for Stefano Pioli's side.
The Red Devils and the Rossoneri played out a tightly-contested 45 minutes which was packed with a number of half-chances and, in one particular case, a chance that was harder to miss than to score.
Franck Kessie celebrated after getting his side ahead via an absolutely stunning goal, emphatically smashing it past Dean Henderson in the eleventh minute. The goal was eventually ruled out after a long VAR check as Kessie was deemed to have handled the ball while attempting to bring the ball down to control it before dispatching it into the hosts' goal.
Another defining moment in the first half was when captain Harry Maguire found himself at the end of a lofted corner delivery from Alex Telles and failed to turn the ball into the net from just a matter of a couple of yards. It was arguably one of the worst misses of the campaign so far and is one that Maguire will not look back upon fondly.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer then went on to make a a noteworthy change at half-time by taking off out-of-sorts striker Anthony Martial after another questionable display in the first half. The Norwegian brought on Ivorian wonderkid Amad Diallo, and would go on to reap the rewards of his bold decision just five minutes after the restart.
Superstar midfielder Bruno Fernandes picked up the ball in the final third and spotted an excellent run from Amad who ghosted into the Rossoneri's defence unmarked and lobbed the ball past Gigi Donnarumma. The former Atalanta Bergamo prodigy's first goal for Manchester United turned out to be a vital one as it broke the deadlock in the knockout tie.
The game found a few more gears after the opening goal and Milan responded well with an excellent spell during which they carved out a few opportunities to hit back, with Rade Krunic, in particular, missing a great chance to level the score with a near-post header.
Mason Greenwood, on the other end, crafted a superb opportunity with a well-weighted ball for Dan James across the penalty area only for the Welshman to fluff his lines. Although it wasn't a miss as bad as Maguire's, it was still quite a shocking one.
Manchester United were close to finding themselves a man short as Scott McTominay, who was already on a yellow card, committed a foul just outside his own box as he brought Krunic down but was not shown a second yellow by referee Slavko Vincic, much to the dismay of the Milan players.
Despite the Rossoneri's dominance on the ball since going behind, they failed to test Dean Henderson all too often and rued their missed chances of which they had plenty.
The tie came to a dramatic end, however, as Milan defender Simon Kjaer peeled away from a host of Manchester United players to head the ball past Henderson and give his side a crucial away goal. The Dane scored what was his first-ever goal for Milan, much like Amad's was for Manchester United, to break the Red Devils' hearts in the dying embers of the game.
Maguire and James' misses were major talking points for the Red Devils as they could have ultimately made the difference. United now find themselves in a rather precarious situation as a 0-0 draw away at San Siro would be enough to see AC Milan through.
Here are some of the best tweets from the game!
