Bournemouth beat ten-man Milan 3-0 at Dean Court
Two first-half penalties, a straight red card for Mike Maignan and a late Amine Adli goal gave Bournemouth a 3-0 Europa League win over Milan.
By Harvey Watkins,
Bournemouth beat Milan 3-0 at Dean Court on Thursday night in the third round of Europa League matches. Justin Kluivert and Marcus Tavernier scored from the penalty spot before half-time and Amine Adli added a third six minutes from the end. Milan played the final hour of the match a man down after Mike Maignan was sent off in the 27th minute.
Two penalties and a red card in the first half
The match was shaped early. Bournemouth were awarded a penalty inside the opening ten minutes, and Kluivert converted it in the eighth minute to give the home side the lead.
The decisive moment for Milan came in the 27th minute, when Maignan was shown a straight red card. It was not a second booking, which meant Milan lost a player in one stroke with more than an hour of the match still to play.
Bournemouth made the advantage count almost at once. Five minutes after the dismissal they were given a second penalty, and Tavernier scored it in the 32nd minute. That made it 2-0, and that was how the score stayed until half-time.
Two penalties in a single half is unusual at any level, and it means both of Bournemouth's first-half goals came from the spot. They still had to be taken, and both were.
A long wait for the third
After Tavernier's goal there was no further scoring for 52 minutes. Bournemouth held a two-goal lead against ten men for the whole of the second half until the closing stages, and Milan were unable to find a way back into the game in that time.
The third goal arrived in the 84th minute. Adli scored it, and unlike the first two it was not a penalty. It ended any lingering doubt and put a clearer margin on the result.
What the scoreline says
A 3-0 home win over Milan is a notable result for Bournemouth in this competition, and it came with a clean sheet. All three of their goals came from different scorers, with Kluivert, Tavernier and Adli each finding the net.
It would be fair to note how much the match turned on the first half-hour. A penalty after eight minutes, a straight red card after 27 and a second penalty after 32 left Milan two goals and a player down before half-time. Few sides recover from that combination, and Milan did not.
Equally, Bournemouth deserve credit for what they did with their advantages. Penalties still have to be converted, and a lead against ten men still has to be protected. They scored both spot-kicks, kept Milan out for the remainder of the game and added a late third rather than settling for two.
One match tells only part of the story of a European campaign, and this result should be read in that light. On the night itself, though, Bournemouth took their chances and Milan never recovered from a costly first half.