Milan Beat Genoa 2-1 To Boost Champions League Hopes

AC Milan moved closer to a Champions League place with a 2-1 victory away to Genoa in Serie A. Christopher Nkunku scored from the spot before Zachary Athekame struck late on. Johan Vasquez replied for Genoa, but Massimiliano Allegri's team climbed to third and stopped a three-match winless run.

The first half produced few clear openings despite Genoa starting brightly. Ruslan Malinovsky, featuring in his last home match for Genoa, wasted two promising chances. Youssouf Fofana forced the only save before the interval with a near-post glancing header from a corner, comfortably gathered by Mike Maignan.

Three minutes after the restart, the game changed when Justin Bijlow rushed from goal to meet a long pass. The Genoa goalkeeper failed to reach the ball and instead fouled Christopher Nkunku. Nkunku calmly converted the penalty, registering a seventh Serie A goal for AC Milan this season.

Genoa tried to respond again through Malinovsky, who lined up a fierce attempt from the edge of the area. The midfielder's rising shot beat Maignan but flew narrowly over the bar. That miss kept AC Milan in front, with Allegri's side still short of fluency in open play despite controlling territory.

AC Milan added what proved the decisive goal on 81 minutes from a simple throw-in routine. The ball reached the edge of the box, where Zachary Athekame hit a first-time drive into the bottom-right corner. Genoa reacted on 86 minutes as captain Johan Vasquez stretched to prod home from close range after a crowded scramble.

The late strike from Vasquez triggered a tense finish for AC Milan. Genoa pushed forward throughout 10 minutes of added time, delivering crosses and set pieces into the area. Allegri's defence, led by Maignan, survived the pressure and protected a fourth straight Serie A away win at Genoa, the first such run in club history.

AC Milan Serie A Champions League chase backed by Nkunku statistics

Nkunku's penalty extended an improving scoring record since joining AC Milan. Nkunku has now scored seven goals for Milan in Serie A this season, more than he managed across his previous two Premier League campaigns with Chelsea combined (three in both 2023-24 and 2024-25). On a day when Milan largely struggled for creativity, he had the most shots (two) and touches in the opposition box (five), whilealso playing 10 passes in the opposition box, the joint second-most behind Adrien Rabiot (17).

Nkunku is only the second Rossoneri player to the last 10 seasons to score at least five penalties in a single Serie A campaign, after Franck Kessie in 2020-21 (11). Milan have won four consecutive away games against Genoa in Serie A for the first time in their history. More importantly, Massimiliano Allegri's side ended a three-game winless run, meaningtheir fate is in their own hands when they face Cagliari next weekend.