First leg won, Milan have foot in final

It left PSV coach Guus Hiddink ruing what might have been. ‘‘At 1-0 it would be more possible but now it is difficult’’, he said. ‘‘But the lads were saying in the dressing room that next week we are not going to surrender.’’

Hiddink was exasperated by PSV’s defeat. ‘‘There were large parts of the second half where we were so dominant and, of course, if you have such control than it is very frustrating to get a result like this.’’

It was Milan’s seventh successive Champions League match without conceding a goal — a new record for the competition — but without the suspended Alessandro Nesta their defence was uncharacteristically shaky against a pacey PSV attack.

Milan made a positive start and Shevchenko had a chance in the second minute when skipper Paolo Maldini picked him out with a diagonal, cross-field pass but the Ukrainian shot meekly at PSV’s Brazilian keeper Heurelho Gomes.

But they soon got a warning of the threat that PSV pose on the break when Peruvian striker Jefferson Farfan tested Dida with a low shot that the Milan keeper uncomfortably fumbled out.

Farfan then showed his pace with a darting run that took him past Milan’s Dutch former PSV defender Jaap Stam and goalward but he could only scuff a harmless shot.

Milan eventually broke through when Kaka opted for a direct ball over the top to Shevchenko, who outpaced Bouma and coolly slotted past Gomes.

PSV were unaffected by the setback, though, and made a positive start to the second half with Dida again failing to keep hold of a shot from South Korean left-back Lee Young-Pyo and then his compatriot Park shot straight at the Milan keeper after being slipped in by Beasley.

Milan’s forward excursions were becoming increasingly rare but they almost grabbed a precious second goal when Shevchenko lobbed Gomes with a superbly weighted shot after a smart chest down but the PSV keeper recovered to pull off an acrobatic save.

Still the pressure was coming from PSV and Mark van Bommel wasted a good chance in the 66th minute when he blasted over from a tight angle after a misplaced pass from Kakha Kaladze had let him in.

Two minutes later and another chance went begging for the Dutch side with Farfan drilling across the Milan area but the dangerous Park could only poke wide from close range.

After all that pressure Milan were prioritising denying the Dutch an away goal but in the final moments, cruelly for PSV, they snatched the potentially vital second.

Kaka’s shot struck Phillip Cocu and fell kindly to Tomasson inside the area and he did well to hook it past Gomes and leave Hiddink’s team with a huge task for next week’s return.