AC Milan started their pre-season with a comfortable 7-0 win against Lumezzane earlier this evening. Christian Pulisic played from start and bagged two assists, while the youngster Lorenzo Colombo bagged two goals.
Stefano Pioli fielded the following starting XI for the game: Sportiello; Calabria, Gabbia, Tomori, Florenzi; Loftus-Cheek, Krunic, Pobega; Messias, Colombo, Pulisic. And the latter certainly made the most of the opportunity. (See highlights below).
Just five minutes into the game, Pulisic brought down a ball wonderfully before beating his man, setting it up for Tommaso Pobega inside the box. A few minutes before that, the American had hit the post with a nice strike. Shortly thereafter, in the 17th minute, Pulisic received yet another ball and managed to find Pobega again inside the box.
The party continued for the Rossoneri as Junior Messias made it 3-0 less than one minute later. And two minutes after that, Lorenzo Colombo made the most of a poor defensive header to make it 4-0. In short, the game was a bit chaotic at that point.
Things did eventually settle down and the referee blew for half-time in the 30th minute, with the game format being 2×30-min halves. Pioli decided to bring on the new signing Luka Romero for the second half and he responded by assisting Colombo’s second in the 42nd minute.
Pioli then made a range of substitutions around the 45th-minute mark by bringing on the likes of Mirante, Simic, Nsiala, Paloschi, Bartesaghi, Malaspina, Zeroli, Adli, Traore and Longhi. They added a lot of energy to the clash and Romero came close to scoring a goal, sending a strike just wide of the post.
In the 65th minute, Romero managed to get his goal as Milan were awarded a penalty. The Argentine sent the goalkeeper the wrong way and made no mistakes from the spot, making it 6-0.
Right at the death, Kevin Zeroli scored with a header to make it 7-0 and the referee blew for full-time just as the ball hit the back of the net. A positive start to the pre-season but the upcoming opponents will be a lot tougher to face.
