Second-place AC Milan hosted 12th-place Genoa in a Serie A Matchday 35 contest.
AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli had to do without the injured Mike Maignan and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, while Genoa coach Alberto Gilardino was unable to rely on the talented Albert Gudmundsson, instead fielding striker Mateo Retegui from the start.
In the 4th minute, Genoa defender Alessandro Vogliacco made an insertion into the penalty area which was not well read by the AC Milan defenders. A rough intervention by Fikayo Tomori resulted in a penalty call in favor of the visiting team.
Retegui stepped up and wrong-footed the opposing goalkeeper to give his team the lead.
After a really bland approach, the Rossoneri started to better manage ball possession, proposing various offensive actions.
In particular, U.S. striker Christian Pulisic created several interesting opportunities. First with a right-footed curling shot that hit the post, then with an individual play that didn't find the right connection with his teammates.
Afterwards, Genoa went forward again with a long-range shot by Morten Frendrup which ended just outside the far post of the goal defended by Marco Sportiello.
Having conceded this long-range shot, AC Milan returned to attacking.
This time it was Rafael Leao who took advantage of an error and flew towards the penalty area where his conclusion, also thanks to a deflection, did not worry Genoa's Spanish goalkeeper, Josep Martinez.
The latter made a great intervention soon thereafter on a precise shot by Pulisic, deflecting the shot into a corner. On the resulting corner Theo Hernandez got his head on the ball, but Genoa's Spanish goalkeeper made a fine reflex save.
Just before halftime, Nigerian winger Samuel Chukwueze dribbled past his opponent before crossing into the box where teammate Alessandro Florenzi headed the ball from a few steps away to give the home team the equalizer.
In the 49th minute, Genoa took the lead again with Caleb Ekuban who, following a cross from his teammate Vogliacco, did well to anticipate the pass and beat the opposing goalkeeper with his head.
The reaction of the home team was not long in coming. Hernandez was involved in a domineering box-to-box run but launched a weak shot that was easily saved by goalkeeper Martinez.
In the 68th minute, Leao was subbed out, booed by the fans for his poor performance, and Noah Okafor came on.
Okafor immediately paid dividends, delivering a truly valuable pass to Olivier Giroud who found himself face to face with goalkeeper Martinez but wasted badly by kicking out.
In the 72nd minute Milan found the equalizer behind Matteo Gabbia following a corner kick by Florenzi. This was the second headed goal for the Italian defender in this championship.
In the 75th minute the Rossoneri took the lead. This time Giroud with a left-foot volley converted a pass from Pulisic.
Moments later, goalkeeper Milan's Sportiello made a great save, neutralizing Ekuban's close-range and powerful shot, temporarily maintaining their hard-won lead.
In the final 10 minutes, Pioli preferred to remove an offensive man and insert a defensive one, thus lowering the center of gravity of his team. The tactical move did not have positive consequences, so much so that in the 87th minute Genoa surprised the Rossoneri defense with an initiative by Norwegian midfielder Morten Thorsby.
Thorsby arrived at the touch line and made a low cross towards the center of the penalty area where an unfortunate miscommunication between defenders Tomori and Thiaw, led Thiaw to record an own goal. With that the game ended in a 3-3 draw.