13th December, 2023
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Nigerian international, Samuel Chukwueze scored a late goal on Wednesday as AC Milan beat Newcastle United 2-1 at St. James’ Park in their last Champions League match.
Newcastle needed to win the match to at least drop to the Europa League, but they crashed out of the Champions to end their Europe dream this season.
Chukwueze scored in the 84th minute of the match to win it for AC Milan. Interestingly, it was another Nigerian who assisted.
Noah Okafor played a short, square pass into the path of Chukwueze, who bent a shot straight into the left side of the goal to make it 1-2.
Newcastle had opened scoring past midway in the first half. Joelinton got a shot away from the edge of the box and scored into the top left corner, with Lewis Miley providing the assist for the goal.
AC Milan equalised in the 59th minute of the match. Olivier Giroud laid the ball off to Christian Pulisic, who shot from close range low into the back of the net, leaving the goalkeeper helpless.
Midway into the second half, Bruno Guimaraes latched on to a precise pass on the edge of the box. He found some space and ripped a shot close to the right post. The goalkeeper made an astonishing save, knocking the ball onto the post.
Rafael Leao wasted a promising chance to score for AC Milan. He tried his luck with a shot from mid-range, but his effort hit the left post.
In added time, Fikayo Tomori latched onto a good pass inside the box and shot. The effort beat the keeper but deflected off the left post to safety.