Pulisic scores direct from corner as Milan get first Champions League win of season

Milan secured their first points in this season’s Champions League on Tuesday with a 3-1 home win over Club Brugge, when Christian Pulisic scored directly from a corner.

The seven-time European champions were one of eight sides winless after two games, having lost 1-0 at Bayer Leverkusen earlier this month and 3-1 at home to Liverpool in the league opener.

Christian Pulisic put Milan ahead in the 34th minute before the Belgian champions were reduced to 10 men in the 40th when midfielder Raphael Onyedika was sent off for a foul on Tijjani Reijnders following a lengthy VAR check. Kyriani Sabbe equalized after half-time for the semi-finalists of last season’s Conference League Brugge with a low goal into the far corner. Reijnders restored the lead for the hosts in the 61st minute with a simple first-time finish from close to the penalty spot, before sealing the victory with a similar effort ten minutes later.

It was a shaky start for Milan against a Bruges side who started aggressively and had two attempts on goal within three minutes, and goalkeeper Mike Maignan was put to work early to block Christos Tzolis’ strike from inside the penalty area. Tzolis continued to cause problems for the hosts and five minutes later he had another brilliant chance, with Maignan again getting into the action before Joel Ordonez hit the crossbar from distance.

But Milan grew into the match and Brugge keeper Simon Mignolet made a great save to deny Pulisic in Milan’s first attempt on target before the half-hour mark. However, a few minutes later he was helpless as the American midfielder fired a curling corner into the net. Pulisic remains Milan’s top scorer this season, with five goals in Serie A and two in the Champions League. Exhausted Brugge hit back after the break and equalized through half-time substitute Sabbe, who was set up by fellow substitute Hugo Vetlesen.

But the hosts took advantage of their numerical advantage and Reijnders put them back in front after the hour, scoring a neat back pass from Noah Okafor before Samuel Chukwueze was on his heels with another sharp pass.

Milan’s 16-year-old striker Francesco Camarda thought he had become the youngest Champions League goalscorer in history. The teenager threw off his shirt in celebration as he drove away after heading in a Reijnders cross after coming on as a substitute in the 75th minute. Camarda’s mother and his girlfriend were shown in the stands wiping away tears.

However, the goal was disallowed for offside and Camarda also received a yellow card for taking off his shirt. Camarda would have become the youngest Champions League scorer at 16 years and 226 days. The record is held by Ansu Fati, who was 17 years and 40 days old when he scored for Barcelona against Inter Milan in 2019.

“It was emotional, I think the best feeling of my life, but then VAR played a trick on me,” Camarda said after the match. “I’m really disappointed but these are things that happen, especially in modern football.”

Considered one of Italy’s brightest talents, Camarda set the record for the youngest player in Serie A history when he played against Fiorentina last season at the age of 15. He had only played one game for Milan, also last season.