In the dying minutes of AC Milan’s dramatic win over Genoa, seasoned veteran Olivier Giroud came on to replace Mike Maignan in the Rossoneri goal.
Stefano Pioli’s side, who had grabbed the lead in the 87th minute through Christian Pulisic, were reduced to ten men shortly after when France international Maignan caught Caleb Ekuban with a knee.
Following a lengthy VAR review, the tackle was considered major foul play, forcing Milan to play with one fewer player because they had previously used all five of their substitutions.
Giroud quickly volunteered to assume the gloves, and it wasn’t long before the former Arsenal striker-turned-emergency goalkeeper made his first save of the evening.
And it was arguably the best – and most important – save of the Serie A clash. Check it out below:
Giroud sprinted off his line to intercept a possible goal scoring opportunity, displaying excellent reflexes to parry the ball into a safe-ish area, as shown in the video above.
He promptly stepped in to smother the ball and prevent any potential tap-ins.
Genoa would keep pushing for an equalizer, but when their goalie was sent out for an injury-time challenge on Fikayo Tomori, they would fall short at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
After the full-time whistle, Milan manager Stefano Pioli opened up about Giroud’s unexpected appearance between the sticks.
It never happened before, it was Christian Pulisic who wanted to go in goal and we told him he was too short, so Oli got the job,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
“A lot of strange things happened during the match, we knew it would be difficult, but we held out well. This is a victory of mentality, character, strength and I am very satisfied with my players.
“With five away games in eight, we’re very happy to be in this position.” We recognize that there are numerous things we can and must improve.”
If you have 10 minutes to kill, watch the latter portions of Saturday’s game. After all, it is rather astounding.
“It is too early to look at the table; there will be three or four teams fighting for the Scudetto, but this result is important for self-esteem after a tough run of fixtures,” he continued.
“It is remarkable to be able to put in a performance of this intensity and desire just three days after the Champions League tie against a very good team.”
“Admittedly, it wasn’t the best on a technical level, but we believed to the end.”
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