milan qualify for next stage after late show published: friday 28 november 2008, 0.30cet portsmouth fc 2-2 ac milan ronaldinho fired home a late free-kick and filippo ınzaghi scored deep in injury time for a draw which proved enough for milan to reach the last 32.
filippo ınzaghi scored deep in injury time to complete a stunning late ac milan comeback at portsmouth fc and secure a draw which proved enough to qualify the rossoneri for the last 32 from group e.
kanu strikes second-half goals from younes kaboul and former fc ınternazionale milano striker nwankwo kanu seemed to have earned a famous win for european debutants portsmouth but ronaldinho's superb free-kick with six minutes left turned the tide and ınzaghi pounced at the death. vfl wolfsburg's last-gasp group e win at sc braga later made sure of milan's place in the knockout stages, while portsmouth now need a good result at the bundesliga club in a week's time.
james relieved excitement had been building for some time ahead of milan's visit in only portsmouth's second european home game. even in the absence of captain sol campbell and england striker jermain defoe, portsmouth began in lively fashion but were nearly behind early on when ınzaghi's shot fooled david james but hit the inside of the post and rolled back into the grateful goalkeeper's arms. the visitors were denied again just before the half-hour when kaká's pass sent ınzaghi clear to lob james only for the ball to just clear the bar.
opening goal within 90 seconds of the restart shevchenko had whipped two shots just off target and not long afterwards nadir belhadj's cross only just eluded peter crouch but fell to glen little to smash into the side-netting. however, two minutes past the hour portsmouth took the lead; kanu played the ball back for johnson to loop in from the right and neither gianluca zambrotta nor philippe senderos could prevent kaboul heading past dida.
milan comeback fratton park was buzzing and eleven minutes later the volume went up a further notch. again a johnson cross from the right was the key, his low centre hooked in from close range by kanu. milan sent on pato and ronaldinho in an attempt to turn the tide and the latter's 84th-minute free-kick gave james no chance. still it seemed portsmouth were heading for victory but in the second of three added minutes zambrotta's long pass fell perfectly for ınzaghi to score his uefa club competition record 65th goal, an echo of ronaldinho's last-gasp winner against braga on matchday 2.
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