Giroud penalty earns 10-man Milan 2-1 win at Sampdoria

GENOA, Italy: A penalty by French striker Olivier Giroud gave 10-man AC Milan a deserved 2-1 win at Sampdoria in Serie A on Saturday (Sep 10), sealing their first away victory of the season.

Unbeaten Milan moved up to second place and level with leaders Napoli on 14 points from six games. Atalanta on 13 could take over at the top if they beat Cremonese on Sunday.

Stefano Pioli's Milan side ended their wait for an away win this season after drawing at Atalanta and Sassuolo.

His side opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Rafael Leao brilliantly set up forward Junior Messias in the box and the Brazilian put the champions in front with a low shot.

With his third assist of the season, Leao has contributed to 20 Serie A goals this year (10 goals, 10 assists).

Five minutes after the hosts went behind midfielder Filip Djuricic almost levelled but his fierce strike hit the bar.

Milan could have had a two-goal advantage when Charles De Ketelaere found the net with his back in the 21st but it was ruled out after a VAR review for offside in the build-up.

Sampdoria goalkeeper Emil Audero then kept out a great first-time shot by Giroud just before halftime.

Milan played a solid first half but things got complicated after the break when they were left with 10 men after losing Leao to a second yellow card for a scissor-kick which connected with the head of defender Alex Ferrari.

Sampdoria took advantage in the 57th minute when their Serbia midfielder Filip Djuricic deftly headed home a neat lofted pass from defender Tommaso Augello.

But 10 minutes later Milan regained the lead with Giroud's spot kick after midfielder Gonzalo Villar had handled.

Sampdoria applied the pressure in the dying minutes with Manolo Gabbiadini and Valerio Verre