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A year ago

GIROUD QUALIFIES AC MILAN TO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

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Sports

A year ago



On Sunday, Milan joined Inter and Lazio in finishing in the top four of Serie A, dashing Juventus' own hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.


With a 1-0 victory at Juventus, Milan sealed a top-four Serie A finish, therefore ending the Bianconeri's chances of qualifying for the Champions League.


Juve needed a victory at the Allianz Stadium to extend the top-four competition to the last gameday of the season as they were still reeling from their 10-point deduction and Monday's appalling 4-1 loss at Empoli.


However, Giroud scored the game's lone goal with a superb header as halftime drew near on Sunday, highlighting the Bianconeri's continued lack of offensive vigor.



From then, the Rossoneri were at ease as they made sure that Juventus' turbulent season would finish on yet another negative note, adding to the pressure on Massimiliano Allegri, the team's under-fire head coach.


Milan had a strong start thanks to Sandro Tonali's header of Junior Messias' delivery, but Juve quickly outperformed them as Angel Di Maria was unable to hook Moise Kean's cut-back home on the stretch.


Numerous further Bianconeri opportunities were created by Federico Chiesa's miss and Kean's long-range effort, but Juve fell behind five minutes before halftime.



Giroud expertly headed the ball beyond Wojciech Szczesny's helpless dive in response to Davide Calabria's looping cross from the right.


Juve labored after the break without injured striker Dusan Vlahovic, failing to make any forward progress offensively. Adrien Rabiot forced a simple save from Maignan.


As Juve's hopes of playing in the Champions League came to naught, Szczesny stuck out a leg to stop Alexis Saelemaekers, Rafael Leao blasted over on the break, Danilo had a close-range attempt stopped in a goalmouth scramble.



Milan benefited the most from Juventus' 10-point deduction when it was confirmed earlier this week, moving up into the top four.


The Rossoneri weathered a Juve storm midway through the first half, and after Giroud's goal, Stefano Pioli's team was determined not to let that advantage slip away.



Giroud, who has frequently come through in crunch time for both club and country, gave Szczesny no chance with a strong header just as Juventus appeared to be on top.


Since he scored 12 Premier League goals for Arsenal in the 2016–17 season, the 36-year-old striker has had his finest season in one of the top five leagues in Europe.


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