Teun Koopmeiners bagged a brace at San Siro to overturn Milan after the Rafael Leao opener, so Atalanta will face Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia semi-finals.
Matteo Gabbia made his return to the Rossoneri after a Villarreal loan, plugging gaps left by Alessandro Florenzi, Noah Okafor, Samuel Chukwueze, Ismael Bennacer, Rade Krunic, Mattia Caldara, Marco Pellegrino, Malick Thiaw, Fikayo Tomori, Pierre Kalulu and Tommaso Pobega. La Dea missed Hans Hateboer, El Bilal Toure and Ademola Lookman.
These sides met in Serie A last month, Luis Muriel’s last-gasp back-heel flick winning it 3-2 for Atalanta in Bergamo.
Marco Carnesecchi pushed a Yunus Musah strike over the bar after Christian Pulisic’s counter-attack, while Emil Holm volleyed off target from a De Ketelaere cross.
De Ketelaere knocked down a cross with Marten de Roon and Gabbia both flying in at the back post and colliding heavily. Although Tijjani Reijnders seemed to nudge De Roon in the back, VAR opted for an accidental collision and did not suggest a penalty review. The damage was done to both teams, as Gabbia and De Roon had to be substituted.
Berat Djimsiti made a sensational sliding tackle to stop Rafael Leao in the box, but Milan broke the deadlock with a classic move when Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao sprinted down the left, exchanging a series of passes until the Portugal international steered it into the far bottom corner with the inside of the right boot.
Less than a minute later, Atalanta had restored parity with another well-worked goal. Holm pulled back from the right for Teun Koopmeiners, who passed it into the net from just inside the penalty area.
It still wasn’t over, as substitute Mario Pasalic thought he had put Atalanta in front only to be denied by Davide Calabria flinging himself in the path of the finish.
The second half started with similar intensity, as Mike Maignan got down to palm a Koopmeiners strike from the edge of the box off the line, then Leao on the counter from the resulting corner over-hit the pass for Calabria.
There was more controversy when Atalanta received a penalty, as Alex Jimenez seemed to toe-poke the ball away from Aleksei Miranchuk before their knees connected, but VAR did not over-rule the referee. Koopmeiners sent Maignan the wrong way to complete his brace.
Filippo Terracciano came on for his Milan debut and Miranchuk’s left-foot curler was just wide, while Yunus Musah deflected the Ederson effort past the far post.
Carnesecchi also got down well to fingertip the Christian Pulisic snapshot out of the near bottom corner, then Theo Hernandez ballooned over from a Leao pull-back and the deflected Musah effort was palmed away as the hosts poured forward in the closing stages.
There were even penalty appeals on the final corner of the game for a possible Holm handball, but his arm was considered to be in a natural position.
Milan 1-2 Atalanta
Rafael Leao 44 (M), Koopmeiners 45, pen 59 (A)
Player statistic
| Rafael Leão (Assist: Theo Hernández) |
 |
45' | ||
| 45+2' | |
Teun Koopmeiners (Assist: Emil Holm) |
| Theo Hernández |  |
58' | ||
| 59' |  |
Teun Koopmeiners | ||
| Rafael Leão | |
80' | ||
| 90' | |
Éderson |
Match statistic
