Milan Win 2-1 at Genoa But Leave Questions Unanswered

Final score: Genoa 1-2 AC Milan. Three points for Milan. Job done. Except it was not quite that clean, and anyone who watched this match knows it.

The First Half: Milan Did What Was Needed

Milan were sharp early. Alphadjo Cissè put them ahead in the 13th minute, finishing with his right foot from a move that involved Adrien Rabiot. Six minutes later, Christian Pulisic made it two. Same pattern. Right foot. Gonçalo Ramos involved. Two goals, 19 minutes played. That is how you start a match away from home.

The thing is, Milan looked dangerous because they competed for the basics. Eleven key passes across the full 90 minutes. Seventeen total crosses. Eighty-five attacks to Genoa's 51. The numbers back up what the eye told you. Milan were the dominant side and in the first half they punished Genoa cleanly.

Genoa had 62 per cent possession by the end. That stat will confuse people. Listen, possession without purpose is just keeping the ball warm. Genoa managed 580 passes but created very little. Five shots in total. Two on target. That tells you everything. You can pass it around your own half all afternoon. It does not win you football matches.

Discipline and Decisions

Both sides picked up yellow cards and there was a spell midway through the match that threatened to unravel things. Sankhoun Diawara was booked for Genoa in the 28th minute. Rabiot received a card for an argument at the 50-minute mark, the same minute Genoa's Alessandro Marcandalli was also cautioned for a foul. Pulisic was then booked for unsportsmanlike conduct in the 76th minute before being withdrawn three minutes later. Mario Gila collected a yellow in the 87th minute. By the end, Genoa had four yellow cards and Milan had two.

That is a sloppy afternoon in terms of discipline from both sets of players. Accountability matters. You cannot afford to give referees reasons to influence games when you are sitting on a one-goal lead. Milan had two big chances missed over the course of the match. Those misses kept Genoa in it longer than they deserved to be.

Genoa's Form Made This a Dangerous Fixture

Give Genoa credit where it is due. They came into this match in decent shape. Four wins from their last five Serie A matches, including a 2-0 win over Juventus and a 1-0 win over Venezia. That is genuine form. A team with that kind of run is not simply rolling over for anyone.

Their only defeat in that five-match sample was a 0-2 loss to AS Roma at home. So Milan knew what they were walking into. A compact, organised side playing with confidence. The fact that Milan went two up inside 20 minutes showed quality and desire. It also, eventually, led to a kind of complacency that allowed Genoa back into the match late on.

Genoa Pull One Back, But Too Late

Mikael Egill Ellertsson scored for Genoa in the 88th minute, assisted by Tommaso Baldanzi who had come off the bench. Left foot shot. 2-1. Suddenly there were nerves. Kingsley Ehizibue was booked for Genoa in stoppage time, which tells you everything about the desperation in those closing minutes.

The thing is, that late goal was preventable. Milan had made four substitutions by that point, with Ardon Jashari coming on for the booked Pulisic in the 79th minute. The changes disrupted their rhythm and allowed Genoa to get a foothold they had not earned over the previous 85 minutes. That is on the management of the game. When you are 2-0 up away from home, you see it out. You do not give the opposition a goal to build momentum on. You certainly do not concede in the 88th minute.

Milan's Injury List Looms Over Everything

Milan were without a significant number of players. The data shows two players out until February 2027, one not expected back until November 13, another until November 16, and further absentees stretching into December and beyond. Add a suspension to the list and you have a squad that is being tested for depth every single week.

To their credit, the players who started delivered when it mattered. Pulisic scored and caused problems before his booking. Cissè got the opener. Rabiot was involved in the first goal before his own moment of madness. You can question the attitude around the yellow cards. You cannot question the output in the final third.

What the Numbers Say About This Match

Milan had 17 shots in total. Genoa had six. Milan had 43 dangerous attacks to Genoa's 19. Milan completed 13 successful dribbles to Genoa's six. In every attacking category, Milan were well ahead. And yet they needed five saves from their goalkeeper to stay ahead, while Milan's goalkeeper was not called upon to save a single shot. That last stat is worth pausing on. Five saves required. That is not the profile of a dominant away performance. That is the profile of a team that created a lead and then invited pressure.

Genoa's goalkeeper made five saves to keep the scoreline respectable. Five saves from six Milan shots on target. That is a solid afternoon's work from the Genoa number one and it deserves acknowledgement.

The Verdict

Milan win. Three points. In a results business, that is the only thing that matters. But the manner of this victory will concern anyone who watches Milan week to week. Two goals up after 19 minutes and you are still conceding in the 88th minute. That is not good enough. The standards have to be higher.

Genoa will be disappointed. They had the ball. They had the crowd. They had the form coming in. But they did not convert their possession into genuine danger until it was far too late. Four wins in five is not a bad run. This was a reality check about what it takes to compete with one of Serie A's bigger names. The desire was there late on. It needed to be there from the first whistle.

Milan move on with the points. Genoa go back to work. End of.