A goal by Danish substitute Jon Dahl Tomasson in second-half injury time propelled AC Milan past Ajax of Amsterdam on Wednesday and set up a semifinal clash with city rival Inter Milan in the Champions League.
Milan's 3-2 win -- following a 0-0 first leg -- made it three Italian clubs in the semifinals. Inter and Juventus advanced on Tuesday.
The only other time three clubs from the same country reached the semis was when Real Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona achieved the feat for Spain in 2000.
PHOTO: AP
Filippo Inzaghi opened the scoring for Milan at the half-hour mark. Finnish striker Jari Litmanen equalized for Ajax in the 63rd -- briefly putting the Dutch side ahead on away goals.
Andriy Shevchenko put Milan ahead again (2-1) in the 65th and South African midfielder Steven Pienaar evened the match again in the 78th before Milan put the final stamp on the match.
Midfielder Massimo Ambrosini headed the ball forward and Inzaghi lifted it acrobatically over Ajax's Romanian goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont, and Tomasson -- who entered the match in the 83rd -- was able to bang it into the back of the net at the goalline, setting off a wild celebration by the capacity crowd of more than 80,000 at San Siro.
``We wanted this semifinal at all costs,'' Inzaghi said. ``It will be a very difficult match [against Inter], but with this kind of heart you can go a long way.''
In the first half, Inzaghi increased his lead among all current players with 45 European goals [two more than Raul of Real Madrid], by redirecting a cross from Shevchenko with a bouncing header, as Lobont attempted a futile swipe at the ball.
Seven minutes earlier, Lobont was able to deflect a Milan shot, but replays showed the ball may have already been past the goalline.
Litmanen's score came off a cross from fellow striker Andy van der Meyde, giving brief hope to the 5,000 Ajax fans in attendance.
Shevchenko's reply came off a pass from Inzaghi.
Lobont came out to challenge the play, but the cross was deflected by Ajax's defense toward Shevchenko, who was waiting on the goalline and headed the ball into an empty net.
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