Milan strikes early, holds off late Genoa rally to win 1-2

It took Milan just six minutes to settle matters at the Luigi Ferraris. Between the 12th minute and the 18th, Alphadjo Cisse and Christian Pulisic made it 0-2, and although Genoa pushed hard for much of the match and pulled one back through Mikael Ellertsson in the 87th, the final score stayed at 1-2 in Milan's favor in Serie A.

The opening was a gut punch for the home side. Cisse finished with his right foot from the center of the box, close to the left post, after a pass from Adrien Rabiot, and just six minutes later Pulisic doubled the lead with another right footed effort, this time set up by Goncalo Ramos. Genoa, who had opened the game testing the water with a wayward shot from Milutin Osmajic, suddenly found themselves down and had to regroup on the fly.

What stood out was that Genoa never controlled the ball. Daniele De Rossi's side threw numbers forward in search of a response and ended up creating more chances than their opponents, but without controlling the game itself: Milan, coached by Ruben Amorim, managed possession and let the home side grow frustrated with the ball. Genoa had warning signs before halftime, like Leo Ostigard's header that flew over the bar or Junior Messias's shot that grazed the crossbar in stoppage time, but the first half ended with the 0-2 scoreline intact.

In the second half, Genoa kept pressing. Vitinha tested the keeper with a shot from the center of the box that forced a save at the top corner, Stephan El Shaarawy (who had come on in the double substitution in the 61st minute) caused problems down the right, and the pressure finally paid off in the 87th: Ellertsson, from a free kick taken by Tommaso Baldanzi, struck a left footed shot from outside the box that found the right side of the net to make it 1-2. There was no time left for more: despite five minutes of stoppage time, the scoreboard did not move again.

What the numbers say

The stats confirm that paradox: Genoa held barely a third of possession but fired off nearly three times as many shots as their opponents.

The split in offensive output is also reflected in the xG estimated after the fact based on shot location: 1.296 for Genoa against 0.91 for Milan. In other words, given the volume and quality of their chances, the home side deserved a tighter scoreline, but Milan's efficiency in the first 20 minutes ended up making the difference.

Pregame odds had made Milan the favorite, with a 45% chance of a visitor's win against 25% for Genoa and 30% for a draw, with expected goals of 1.42 for Milan against 1 for Genoa in a projected total of 2.42. What happened on the field did not stray far from that script: Milan won, though Genoa ended up generating more than that projection anticipated.

What the result means for the standings

In the Serie A table, Milan stays in fourth place with 24 points from 11 games played (seven wins, three draws and one loss), while Genoa sits 13th with 13 points from the same number of matches (four wins, one draw and six losses). The gap between the two sides in the standings is 11 points, a distance that today's result only confirmed.

For Milan, the win in Genoa keeps them within touch of the top spots; for Genoa, Ellertsson's goal was a late consolation in a match in which, despite dominating the shot count, they never managed to erase their opponent's early blow.