AC Milan’s 2024-25 Serie A season began in a dramatic way as they battled from two goals behind to draw 2-2 at San Siro against Torino on Saturday night.
Preseason wins over Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Monza had fans dreaming, but it quickly turned into a nightmare in what was a very lethargic and at times sloppy performance until the final few minutes.
The first Torino goal came in bizarre circumstances as Malick Thiaw failed to clear a ball off the line, while Duvan Zapata got the second for a Torino side also having their debut under a new head coach.
However, the substitutions injected life as Alvaro Morata opened his account for the Diavolo with an instinctive finish, and then Noah Okafor thumped in a volley in added time to complete the comeback and earn a draw.
Paulo Fonseca named an interesting starting line-up for the game, with the main headline being that Alexis Saelemaekers started at left-back over Theo Hernandez, who is not yet in the best condition. Luka Jovic also got the nod up front over Alvaro Morata, meaning none of the new signings started.
The game started in a predictably cagey manner as Milan’s 4-2-3-1 system attempted to play out of Torino’s high press, and the first chance of note came in the sixth minute. The Rossoneri broke through the lines easily with Davide Calabria and Christian Pulisic, before Rafael Leao’s low shot deflected just wide of the far post.
From the resulting corner it should really have been 1-0 to the home side. Malick Thiaw rose highest and saw a header cleared off the line but only to Leao, who somehow lifted his shot over the bar from a few yards out.
Torino eased themselves into the game, which is also the first for them under a new head coach in Paolo Vanoli, and Zapata might have wished he had tested Mike Maignan in the 15th minute when he was given time and space to shoot from 20 yards but dragged it wide.
The first save of the game was made by Milinkovic-Savic in the Torino goal as he did well to parry Pulisic’s effort over from Leao’s cut-back, though the offside flag had already gone up as the Portuguese winger went too early.
Milan’s threat continued to pass through Leao, who in a short space of time saw a weak shot saved by Milinkovic-Savic, was just evaded by a cross to the far post and then whipped another effort with his left foot wide of the upright.
Just after the half-hour mark, Torino took the lead and it came in very bizarre circumstances. A cross went from one side to the other and Bellanova headed it back across goal. The ball hit the post and it seemed as though Malick Thiaw had scrambled it off the line, yet the referee stopped the game about 30 seconds later and then eventually gave the goal, stating it had in fact crossed.
Milan continued to struggle with the aerial ball and Maignan did excellently to deny Zapata with a reflex save with his legs after the striker had rose to meet a corner at the near post with a glancing header.
The Rossoneri’s biggest chance of the first half came a few minutes before the break when Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s through ball put Leao clear through on goal, and though he did well to brush off a challenge his low shot was saved by Milinkovic-Savic.
The visitors continued to provide a threat of their own down the right side, with Maignan again saving brilliantly to thwart Ilic’s effort from the edge of the box after Bellanova’s cut-back. At the other end, Chukwueze let fly from range and whistled a shot not far wide.
Milan had the first clear opportunity of the second half and it was gifted to them by the Granata. A slack pass back to Milinkovic-Savic was picked up by Pulisic, who rounded the goalkeeper but only found the side netting with his shot.
Just before the hour mark, Fonseca decided to make a triple change as Jovic, Bennacer and Chukwueze all made way with Alvaro Morata, Tijjani Reijnders and Theo Hernandez coming on in their place.
It looked like Morata had made an instant impact when he went down inside the box after a challenge from Coco and the referee pointed to the spot, but after a VAR review the decision was rightly made to overturn it as he got the ball.
Torino then stunned the San Siro crowd into silence by doubling their advantage through Zapata. A move down Milan’s right side saw Lazara afforded time and space to cross, and he picked out his team-mate with an inch-perfect cross that was headed in from close range.
Pulisic again should have done better with a chance just inside the final 20 minutes as a low driven cross fell to him near the penalty spot, yet he laced it over the bar. That would be his last bit of action as he made way for his compatriot Yunus Musah.
Morata thought that he had opened his Milan account when he thumped in a rebound from a Reijnders shot, though the offside flag rightly went up. The final change from Fonseca saw Noah Okafor take Calabria’s place.
Morata did get his first goal in a red and black shirt to give the home fans something to cheer. Musah had a shot blocked, then Reijnders let fly and the Spanish striker was on hand to redirect the Dutchman’s attempt into the bottom corner.
Then, in the fifth minute of added time, Milan got an equaliser. Musah wound up a cross from the right side and the Swiss forward had made a central run, firing past Milinkovic-Savic with an excellent volley.