Boniface condemns the Rossoneri to their second UCL defeat

AC Milan suffered their second defeat in two Champions League games when they were beaten 1-0 by Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena on Tuesday evening.

Victor Boniface was the man who scored the winner early in the second half, knocking in a rebound after an earlier goal was disallowed for offside, but Milan deserved something after a positive second half performance.

There were also two big cheers from the Rossoneri over a penalty rejection; The first time Tammy Abraham went into the box and the second time it appeared Ruben Loftus-Cheek had been trampled.

Nonetheless, none were given and the result means Milan have lost their first two European games, leaving them in the bottom quarter of the table in the new 'big league' phase.

Despite speculation about adding Strahinja Pavlovic and Davide Calabria to the lineup, this was the only change Paulo Fonseca made the starting lineup He brought on Ruben Loftus-Cheek for Alvaro Morata, who is suffering from bursitis but is on the bench.

It was a lively start to the game at the BayArena as the home side were able to save Mike Maignan twice. The first attempt was fired by Boniface in the penalty area and the goalkeeper was just able to keep it away, then Hincapie's header from a cross forced another save.

The first yellow card of the game went to the home side a few minutes later as Garcia was guilty of a rather rough intervention to deny Christian Pulisic after he had knocked the ball around him and appeared to be running away down the right side.

The pressure continued to come from the Werkself and Amine Adli was the last to parry Maignan with a shot from inside the penalty area, although the flag was rightly raised because he was offside.

When Hincapie again saw a soft shot across the penalty area and past the far post, it was clear that Milan needed to take control of the game as they were struggling to get out of their own half due to Leverkusen's high pressing.

In the 21st minute it looked as if Leverkusen had deservedly taken the lead through early pressing. Frimpong had the freedom on the right to send in a brilliant cross that Boniface directed into the goal, but the Dutchman's run was simply too early.

Less than two minutes later, it seemed as if Boniface wanted immediate revenge for his goal being canceled, as he let the ball fly from 20 meters when he perhaps should have distributed the ball to the left – Maignan made a confident save.

Shots continued to dominate Maignan's goal as Grimaldo fired a low cross shot into the path of Frimpong, who fired the rebound over the crossbar.

Eight minutes before half-time, Fonseca feared he might be forced into a substitution when Tammy Abraham attempted a loose ball and, despite making no contact with an opponent, injured his shoulder. Morata appeared ready, but the Englishman pushed on and Christian Pulisic then tested Hradecky for the first time with a shot from the edge of the box that was, in reality, tame.

When Abraham was knocked down in the penalty area by Tapsoba, Milan were desperate to score a penalty, but Swiss referee Schärer's on-field decision that no penalty would be awarded was upheld, although replays showed the Leverkusen defender did not get the ball and not something made contact with the opponent.

Leverkusen started the second half as they did the first, and this time Bonifatius scored a decisive goal. Maignan did well to fend off Grimaldo's initial shot, but the rebound fell to the Nigerian striker, who had the simple task of firing the ball into the goal from a few meters away, making it 1-0 for the home team.

Milan were looking for an equalizer and should have gotten one quickly when Pulisic pushed Reijnders behind but he checked inside for a blocked shot and then Emerson Royal's attempted rebound was blocked as was that by Leao.

Shortly after the hour mark and not long after the home side had fired a volley over the crossbar, Fonseca made his first substitution when Alvaro Morata came on for Abraham.

The Rossoneri began to take the lead in the game as Leverkusen held back and gave up more possession, and Fofana showed his smooth footwork to create shooting space and deny Hradecky.

Hradecky almost lost face in the 73rd minute because he held on to the ball a little too long while trying to get out of the ball and Morata's attack almost sent the ball into the goal, but it somehow bounced over the goal. That came seconds after he intercepted a Morata header from a Fofana cross that went under the crossbar.

As expected, Leverkusen began to threaten on the counterattack and Frimpong should have extended a 2-0 lead when he was in space at the other end, but he slipped on his shot and fired the ball into the side netting.

With just over 10 minutes to go, Samuel Chukwueze came on for Pulisic and immediately after, Milan were inches away from equalizing. A powerful shot from Theo deflected onto the crossbar and Morata had to muster his strength to fire it back the other way, but his header went just wide of the post.

There was another call for a penalty when Loftus-Cheek went down on the edge of the penalty area having sustained a hamstring injury and again there was no score despite the replays. It would be the last action of the game, as the home fans could be happy with three points.