AC Milan 1 - 0 Celtic

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Wednesday Mar 07 2007 07:45

Kaka's 93rd minute goal broke Celtic hearts as AC Milan reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League by the narrowest of margins.

Gordon Strachan's side held the much-fancied Italians to a goalless draw at Parkhead two weeks ago and repeated the feat for 90 minutes at the San Siro with a performance full of courage and commitment.

But Kaka settled a tight and tense last 16 second leg meeting with the winner three minutes into stoppage time.

The Brazil international showed his class by slipping the ball through the legs of on-rushing goalkeeper Artur Boruc after running through the heart of the Celtic defence.

Earlier in the match, Kaka sliced wide from 15 yards as Celtic failed to clear a corner in the opening minutes.

Celtic left-back Lee Naylor was in the right place at the right time midway through the first half as he cleared the impressive Brazilian's low strike off the line.

AC Milan continued to boss the match and Filippo Inzaghi could have broken the deadlock but drilled his shot into the side-netting early in the second half.

The Italy international was felled in the act of shooting by Naylor but the referee ruled the infringement had taken place right on the edge of the box and waved away Milan's penalty appeals.

Boruc finger-tipped away a dangerous Clarence Seedorf free-kick as the home side pressed for a winner in normal time, before Kaka crashed a shot from 18 yards off the crossbar.

But having battled so hard for 90 minutes, Celtic were ultimately undone by the brilliance of Kaka three minutes into extra time.

Milan's outstanding performer slipped away from Neil Lennon on the halfway line and powered past the challenge of Stephen McManus before coolly sliding home his shot.

Celtic threw on strikers Craig Beattie and Kenny Miller late on but failed to find a way through a well-drilled home defence as Milan played out time comfortably to secure their place in the last eight.

  • 116
    Massimo Oddo is being taken off, Dario Simic has come on in his place.
  • 105
    The ref has blown his whistle for half time here in extra time. Can Milan hang on or will Celtic steal a late, late equaliser and therefore go through?
  • 105
    Celtic are replacing Shunsuke Nakamura with Kenny Miller.
  • 104
    Neil Lennon is booked for unsporting behaviour.
  • 97
    Evander Sno is being taken off, Craig Beattie has come on in his place.
  • 93
    Goal!! AC Milan have scored with Ricardo Kaka putting it in the back of the net.
  • 90
    We are into extra time here at the San Siro- can either side grab what would surely be the winning goal?
  • 90
    The ref has blown his whistle for full time.
  • 90
    The ref has blown his whistle for full time.
  • 90
    That's it, it's all over, the referee has blown the final whistle.
  • 86
    Aiden McGeady is booked for unsporting behaviour.
  • 79
    Gennaro Gattuso is replaced by Christian Brocchi.
  • 73
    AC Milan are replacing Filippo Inzaghi with Alberto Gilardino.
  • 62
    Jiri Jarosik is replaced by Thomas Gravesen.
  • 56
    Lee Naylor goes into the referees book for unsporting behaviour.
  • 46
    The second half is under way with the score currently at 0 v 0.
  • 46
    The second half is under way with the score currently at 1 v 0.
  • 45
    Half time whistle is blown by K Plautz
  • 42
    Massimo Ambrosini goes into the referees book for unsporting behaviour.
  • 41
    The referee has booked Stephen McManus.
  • 0
    It's 7:45pm on Wednesday, March 7th, the match has kicked off.
  • 0
    The ref has blown his whistle and the match has started.

Statistics

AC Milan
Shots on target 9
Shots off target 20
Shots off bar/post 1
Fouls 22
Offsides 3
Corners 11

Celtic
Shots on target 3
Shots off target 4
Shots off bar/post 0
Fouls 28
Offsides 4
Corners 3

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