Two penalties, a Maignan red card and an Adli free-kick gave Bournemouth a historic 3-0 Europa League win over AC Milan. Here is how it unfolded.
Bournemouth beat AC Milan 3-0 in the Europa League on Thursday night, and the margin could have been bigger. Two penalties, a first-half red card for Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan and a late free-kick from Amine Adli did the damage on a wet night on the south coast. For a club playing its first European campaign, it is a very big scalp.
How Bournemouth beat AC Milan
According to Sky Sports, the first penalty came in the fifth minute after a VAR check showed Koni De Winter had handled the ball while Evanilson's header went wide. Justin Kluivert scored it three minutes later. Sky notes that he did so 31 years and 151 days after his father Patrick scored the winner against Milan in the 1995 Champions League final.
The game was effectively settled by half an hour. The Guardian reports that Maignan shoved Tyler Adams in the face at a corner in the 27th minute, earning a straight red and giving Bournemouth a second penalty. Marcus Tavernier sent replacement goalkeeper Lorenzo Torriani the wrong way. Sky says Maignan is the first Milan goalkeeper to be sent off in a major European match.
Adli, on as a substitute, added the third in the 84th minute with a free-kick through the Milan wall. The Guardian called it the “flourish they deserved.”
What Marco Rose and Ruben Amorim said
Bournemouth head coach Marco Rose said, as quoted by Sky Sports, that his side “suffocated” Milan and that it suits them to “stay humble” because “the season is long.” Amorim, now in charge of Milan after leaving Manchester United, said it was “a difficult night in every aspect.” Sky adds that he has now failed to beat Bournemouth in five attempts.
The Guardian's match report was blunt about the opposition, saying the Milan side resembled “holograms” even before the red card. It also argued that the result says as much about the financial and physical strength of Premier League clubs as it does about one poor night for Milan.
Where Bournemouth go from here
The result takes Bournemouth to a perfect three wins from three and third in the Europa League table, per Sky. They also picked up their first Premier League win of the season at the weekend, against ten-man Sunderland. The Guardian says they are 15th in the Premier League, and they head to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on Sunday.
Our view: it is easy to explain this away because Milan went down to ten men so early, and the Guardian does exactly that. But Bournemouth were on top before the red card, and winning at that tempo in a storm is not an accident. Sunday at Old Trafford will show whether Thursday was a good night or a turning point.
Picture credit: AC Milan (official match report image)
