AC Milan moved top of the Serie A table for the time being as they brushed aside Lecce 3-0 at San Siro thanks to three goals in five first-half minutes.
It was a rather cagey and difficult opening to the game for Milan as Luca Gotti’s side sat compact and if anything looked dangerous on the counter, but Alvaro Morata’s header from a free-kick got the ball rolling and sparked a collapse.
Theo Hernandez hammered in a shot from close range at the near post after a Rafael Leao feed, and Christian Pulisic pounced on a rebound inside the box to net a third goal to make it job done at half-time.
Chances were missed to do further damage while Davide Bartesaghi got a harsh late red card for a tackle deemed out of control, but it was a job well done in front of over 70,000 home fans and it puts the Rossoneri top while waiting for the other games.
Paulo Fonseca chose to name an unchanged starting line-up from the team that took to the field from minute one against Inter, which meant that Alvaro Morata overcame doubts about his condition and passed a late fitness test to get the nod when a spot on the bench had seemed more likely.
It was a lively opening to the game with both sides looking to get the ball down and play through the thirds quickly. Patrick Dorgu – who is believed to be held in high regard by Geoffrey Moncada and the Milan management – fired the first shot high and wide from 20 yards out on his left foot.
The away side continued to find some joy down Milan’s left side in what was quite a sloppy opening to the game, and Mike Maignan had to be alert to tip a low shot wide from Krstovic that had taken a slight deflection.
Milan began to establish dominance in possession but the chances did not not exactly flow straight after. The closest they came in the opening quarter of the game was a header from Tammy Abraham that was cleared off the line from a recycled corner, though the whistle had blown for a foul on Falcone anyway.
Not long after that chance there was a heart in mouth moment when Fikayo Tomori dropped to the floor and required treatment after falling awkwardly following a challenge, though thankfully he was ok to continue.
The Rossoneri provided a reminder of the quality they possess in transition when a clearance from a Lecce attack led to Morata feeding Rafael Leao who ran down the middle and slid the ball to Abraham yet the Englishman’s cross was calmly chested into the hands of Falcone to avoid a simple tap-in at the back post.
After a free-kick won the derby on Sunday night, it took another set piece from a wide area to open the scoring in the 38th minute. Leao drew it with a run that was halted just outside the box, and Theo’s teasing delivery towards the near post was glanced in by Morata off the crossbar from just a few yards out.
Just two minutes later, the lead was doubled and it was Theo who was involved again, this time turning from provider to scorer. A simply exquisite through ball from Leao was bent perfectly around the defence and stopped nicely for the French full-back to hammer a shot into the roof of the net and make it 2-0.
Lecce’s five-minute capitulation was complete when they conceded a third and it came in quite comical circumstances. Milan won the ball back deep in their half and Abraham fired a shot off the post but the ball stayed in play, he had a shot saved and eventually Pulisic was on hand to bury the rebound from close range.
It could have been four just before the break and again it was a run from Theo off the shoulder off the last defender that caused issues, though this time he lashed his shot into the side netting from a similar position to his goal.
Morata had been a doubt to start the game due to bursitis and 10 minutes into the second half his race was run as he made way for Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Milan continued to look like the side who were going to score the next game despite the commanding lead, and both Tijjani Reijnders and Leao should have done much better with shots before the hour mark but both leant back and skied their efforts over.
It really should have been 4-0 right before the 60-minute mark when another run to the byline and a cut-back ended up being half-cleared to Loftus-Cheek, who somehow scuffed his effort from the penalty spot straight into Leao’s path and even he couldn’t fire it goalwards from even closer range.
In the 63rd minute there was a double substitution for Milan as Fofana and Pulisic came off – presumably with an eye on the Champions League game against Bayer Leverkusen next Tuesday – with Yunus Musah and Samuel Chukwueze coming on.
Milan were inches away from further padding their lead and it would have been in bizarre circumstances given that Loftus-Cheek seemed to mishit an attempt to stand up a cross to the far post and it grazed off the crossbar.
Banda hit the post at the other end with Maignan beaten by a low shot as Lecce went out to try and restore some pride, though the flag did go up for what appeared to be an offside in the build-up.
With 15 minutes left there were another two changes for Milan: Theo Hernandez and Abraham went off, Davide Bartesaghi and Luka Jovic came on.
Bartesaghi had a nightmare start though as he was sent off after just four minutes for a tackle on Banda where he seemed to catch him with the follow-through but it was far from reckless nor were his studs planted. However, VAR did not intervene to get the referee to have another look.
There was time for a final flourish from Leao as he produced a brilliant skill move to burst between two defenders before dribbling 50 yards and unleashing a shot that Falcone saved well.
No idea what Fonseca has said or done but I’ve never seen Leao defend that much, Or was I only hallucinating…?
Besides the beautiful blitzkrieg in the final 10 minutes of the first half, I liked the solid, good display on the second half, for the sake of consistency.
No leao criticism tonight. A couple observations but I can drop them. Unimportant. Seems the extra training he been doing is paying off.
A shame that the stand out memory is by far the most ridiculous red card I’ve seen in my 43 years.
Absolutely scandalous!!!
I didn’t even think it was a yellow.
It has to be rescinded…absolute joke
Pomalú rozbeh ale kvalita sa ukázala za 5 minut a potom dohra 3 body sú a to sa počíta forza Milan
I couldn’t believe VAR did not intervene. That was scandalous and shameful. I don’t get why moments like this is not mandatory review by VAR because it can impact the game. Smh
Good overall performance, mainly from our regular (since Inter derby regular) starting 11. The worrying thing is that once the key figures (namely Puli, Morata, and Fofana) were subbed off, we were both toothless and spineless. Chuk, Musah, and Jovic’s level are sadly too far for this current Milan.
So the main task is now how to keep our key figures healthy all season long. While also hoping we can field full of hope youth gems compared to those ‘hopeless’ players.
Musah was superb.
But Chuk is terrible. His passing is worse than mine.
Jovic is there to make up the numbers at this point.
I see you only work in absolutes!
Oh that was nearly clever. I think the word you’re looking for is “superlatives”. Outstanding and terrible aren’t absolutes.
Also it was a bit short; could you not think of a next bit?
I think the message felt contextually appropriate to the post it was a response to. How much nuance would you like next time?
Fonseca literally said that Musah needed to be more like Fofana in terms of his playing style. And we could see he’s still far for Fofana’s back up. Less filtering, less covering.
He only got to play there for 10 min then had to got to LB
Great performance, but should appeal that red card. Totally unfair.
Good performance by the lads, shame we didn’t kick in for more goals in the second half but sadly that’s the game management required for todays schedules. Leao did well, Tammy did well, unlucky not to score, Tomori played well, Theo players well and Reijnders a little disappointing but this was always going to happen… and I think Morata gets MOTM. Purely for his pressing to make Pulisic’s goal….nice header too.
We are still not the finished article, the first 30 we were pretty flat and static. Looking forward to seeing how we do in Germany.
It was hilarious when Leao kicked the ball to the moon on 1 occasion the commentator said why did he do that?? and seeing Leao looking at the pitch seeming blaming it and the commentator followed by that we are no fools and even years ago Marco Van Basten didnt blame the pitch roflmao.
Pomalú rozbeh ale kvalita sa ukázala za 5 minut a potom dohra 3 body sú a to sa počíta forza Milan
F yeah! Another great performance by the boys. Anyone wanna know why Theo is currently the best LB in the world, watch this game. Shoutout to Mike for a no nonsense performance, and Gabbia for another solid performance at the back. Also enjoyed our midfield quite a lot, especially Morata, but Reijnders and Fofana as well.
Overall, great great job by the team.
Very happy with the performance. I am a bit concerned with the players coming from the bench. They all seem to lack some confidence. Okafor, Jovic n Chuck just to name the few. But I think gradually they will have match fitness
Great job by Fonseca and the players. Milan is moving in the right direction. We definitely need to continue with the 442 formation but we really don’t have any good substitute for Morata and Abraham.
Therefore, I think Milan really should get Jonathan David who can sub for Morata and play the same deep role.
But we also need a sub for Abraham. As for Chukwueze, I will Milan should cash in on him and just get Berardi on a discount from Sassuolo. I don’t see any improvement this season.
Loving these clean sheets.
Great all round team performance