Feyenoord 1-0 AC Milan: Igor Paixao strike sees Eredivisie side take slender advantage to San Siro

AC Milan must overturn a 1-0 deficit in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League play-off tie with Feyenoord at the San Siro, after slipping to a narrow defeat in Rotterdam on Wednesday night.

On a night where the Serie A giants were far from their best, it was ultimately a goalkeeping howler that decided the tie.

Amid the backdrop of lashing rain, the greasy surface got the better of Mike Maignan, as Igor Paixao's seemingly innocuous strike from range was palmed into the net just three minutes in.

Feyenoord endured the worst-possible preparation for the crucial European tie, sacking their manager Brian Priske and appointing under-21 coach Pascal Bosschaart as interim - who confessed before the match to not knowing the squad "at all".

But the hosts ultimately bossed their Italian counterparts, with Paixao getting the better of Kyle Walker to force numerous dangerous chances - notably also hitting the crossbar from range after cutting in from the left.

Feyenoord ultimately looked the more likely to further their advantage, but could not find a clinical edge - though will be more than happy with a slender victory given their 12 absentees through injury.

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Lucy Ward: "Well organised, it was game of limited chances, not particularly high quality chances, but that early goal just set them off on the right foot.

With 12 players sidelined through injury and an interim manager in charge for a matter of a couple of days, beating European giants AC Milan is some feat for Feyenoord.

And perhaps even more impressive was the manner in which they did it.

Sure, Igor Paixao's early strike - ultimately the decisive goal - had a huge element of fortune attached to it. But the Dutch side were more than good value for their victory.

Paixao was a livewire throughout, causing havoc with Milan's defence and even saw an effort rattle of the crossbar.

Interim boss Pascal Bosschaart will now have a week to plan what he hopes will be another masterclass against their Serie A counterparts, but will face a far tougher test heading to the San Siro.

And Sergio Conceicao simply must find a solution to his side's inability to really string together any tangible moment of hope. They barely laid a glove on their opponents in Rotterdam, and the 'Fab Four' of Rafael Leao, Joao Felix, Christian Pulisic and Santiago Gimenez must click soon, or Milan will be out of Europe.

And that's all from Rotterdam! It was Maignan's howler that ultimately decided it, and Conceicao will rightfully be fuming about his side's performance tonight. Nowhere near the standard.

For interim Feyenoord manager Bosschaart, though, that is quite outstanding. Having only taken over earlier this week and confessing to not knowing the squad at all, he really got a tune out of them in some tough conditions.

Still, all to play for next week.

Felix goes down theatrically, around 25 yards from goal, and it's a free-kick for the visitors. Can they find a way here?

And it's a great ball in! But Camarda heads over - eventually realising he was offside anyway.

Will we see any late drama? Feyenoord have been staunch in their defending thus far.

There have been a couple of moments the visitors have looked susceptible on the break, and shipping another goal now would really be the worst-case scenario.

You would still fancy the Serie A side to notch a goal at the San Siro, so if they aren't to find an equaliser tonight, the best they can do is keep the deficit minimal.

Hadj Moussa leads a Feyenoord counter, and he makes it all the way to the box - twisting and turning, before finally sending an effort towards goal. But it's blocked well by Pavlovic.

Gimenez comes off to a rousing reception from the Feyenoord faithful, alongside Leao, who was the bright spark but faded quickly in the second half.

Tammy Abraham enters, alongside teenager Francesco Camarda. Born in 2008, by the way. Make that make sense.

And it's not a good sight for the hosts to see another player go down, having been without as many as 12 for the visit of Milan tonight.

Timber hobbles off and is replaced by Jeyland Mitchell.

And Reid is replaced by Ibrahim Osman.

But I'm not sure I've even seen Wellenreuther properly tested this evening? Palms stung a few times, sure. But in terms of actual, quality chances - very little for the visitors.

What a moment that would have been.

Paixao spots Maignan off his line, and goes for goal from inside his own half.

It's hit with conviction, but sails well wide.

And interim Feyenoord boss Bosschaart opts for another change.

Smal - on a yellow card - makes way for Hugo Bueno.

A hoofed ball towards the Milan backline looks innocuous, but Chukwueze can't quite get it in his feet comfortably, and is pressed all the way towards his own corner before sliding it across to Maignan.

The French 'keeper then fluffs his clearance and Feyenoord have a chance to create something.

But Timber finds his man offside.

Still, another sign that Milan have really yet to get out of this funk. So disjointed tonight, akin to their display against Dinamo Zagreb.

And Gimenez is stretching to try and get a head on it, but it's a really awkward contact, and he goes down for a little while.

It comes out begging to be hit first-time, and Fofana is the recipient. But that's a honking effort. High, wide and not even out of play - somehow.

Fikayo Tomori comes on for Thiaw, while Pulisic makes way for Samuel Chukwueze.

The 'Fab Four' dismantled, with Pulisic barely getting a foot on the ball all night.

He gives a little tactical nudge on Gimenez to halt a counter-attack. The result of that, inevitable.

A lovely bit of trickery from Paixao in the middle of the park sees him burst away from Fofana and Felix, before laying off for Timber.

This time, the Dutchman's through ball is good, but Carranza just can't quite shake off his man to get a decent strike at goal.

As Paixao goes down, and stays down.

Malick Thiaw gets the yellow card in the aftermath, deemed to have illegally halted Feyenoord's break forward - one which came to nothing as Timber's pass was heavy and stray.