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Christian Pulisic's First Champions League Goal In 21 Months Helps AC Milan Knock Out Newcastle As PSG Survive Scare To Reach Last 16

Christian Pulisic's 1st Champions League goal in 21 months helped AC Milan knock Newcastle out of Europe, while PSG survived a scare to reach the UCL's last 16.

Robert Summerscales

Christian Pulisic's First Champions League Goal In 21 Months Helps AC Milan Knock Out Newcastle As PSG Survive Scare To Reach Last 16
Christian Pulisic's First Champions League Goal In 21 Months Helps AC Milan Knock Out Newcastle As PSG Survive Scare To Reach Last 16 /

Paris Saint-Germain qualified for the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League for the 12th year in a row following a tense Group F finale.

PSG finished second in the group with eight points after drawing 1-1 at table-toppers Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.

The French champions would have finished third, behind AC Milan, had they lost in Germany.

Milan won 2-1 away at Newcastle on Wednesday thanks to strikes from Christian Pulisic and Samuel Chukwueze.

Those goals came after a Joelinton golazo had rocketed Newcastle into the lead in the 33rd minute.

Newcastle went into Wednesday's final round of group fixtures knowing that they needed to beat Milan and hope that PSG would not win at Dortmund.

Both games were played simultaneously, with UEFA even taking steps to synchronize the kick-off times of the second halves.

After Joelinton's thunderbolt had given Newcastle a dream start, things got even better for Eddie Howe's men when news came through that Karim Adeyemi had put Dortmund 1-0 up against PSG six minutes into the second half.

But the pendulum then swung in PSG's favor courtesy of two goals in three minutes.

The first was scored on 56 minutes by Warren Zaire-Emery in Germany to draw PSG level against Dortmund.

Pulisic then equalized for Milan at Newcastle in the 59th minute with a first-time finish from close range after an Olivier Giroud assist.

This was the American's first Champions League goal in 21 months. His last had come in March 2022 for Chelsea in a 2-1 win at Lille. 

Christian Pulisic pictured celebrating after scoring for AC Milan in a 2-1 win at Newcastle United in December 2023
Christian Pulisic pictured celebrating after scoring for AC Milan in a 2-1 win at Newcastle United :: IMAGO/News Images/Mark Cosgrove

Newcastle were still just one goal away from reaching the knockout phase of the Champions League for the first time ever.

But an 84th-minute strike by Chukwueze eventually saw the Magpies exit Europe altogether as Milan's 2-1 win secured third place and a spot in the Europa League.

Champions League Group F Final Standings

MP

W

D

L

GF

GA

GD

Pts

1. Dortmund

6

3

2

1

7

4

+3

11

2. PSG

6

2

2

2

9

8

+1

8

3. Milan

6

2

2

2

5

8

-3

8

4. Newcastle

6

1

2

3

6

7

-1

5

Highlights: Newcastle 1-2 AC Milan

Highlights: Dortmund 1-1 PSG

Published
Robert Summerscales
ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.