AC Milan took care of business in an emphatic way at the Stadion Maksimir as they swept Dinamo Zagreb aside 4-0 with an excellent performance.
The deadlock was broken not long before the break as Matteo Gabbia scored his first senior goal for Milan with a header from a Sandro Tonali free-kick, but it was the second half when the floodgates really opened.
Rafael Leao made it 2-0 with a solo run that he finished clinically at the near post, then Olivier Giroud buried a penalty after Tonali had been hauled down, and finally an own-goal from Robert Ljubicic capped off the scoring but it could have been more in truth.
The win means that Milan just need to avoid defeat against Red Bull Salzburg at San Siro next week to secure their progress to the Champions League round of 16, while Dinamo Zagreb are virtually out.
Stefano Pioli made some changes to the starting line-up that beat Monza as Matteo Gabbia came in for the suspended Fikayo Tomori, with Sandro Tonali and Ismael Bennacer reunited in the double pivot, Ante Rebic starting on the right, Charles De Ketelaere the playmaker, Rafael Leao on the left and Olivier Giroud up front.
After a good spell of possession for the hosts there was an injury scare in the opening minutes as a poor backpass from Peric saw the goalkeeper Livakovic have to stretch to try and keep it in and as he did so he went over clutching his ankle, though he was ok to continue and the resulting corner was slashed at by Rebic from a nice routine.
In the eighth minute Milan fashioned what they thought was their first chance of the game when a mazy run from De Ketelaere and a through pass was met by a backheel from Giroud that was saved from close range by Livakovic, but the offside flag was up.
The hosts showed a willingness to put their bodies on the line to keep it level as a scramble inside the box first saw Simon Kjaer have a low shot blocked, then De Ketelaere was also denied and Leao’s cross was easily caught after the Belgian had fed him on the left.
Dinamo reminded Milan of the threat they pose in the 11th minute when Ljubicic beat his market Rebic, dribbling to the edge of the area and shooting wide with his left foot when he should have done better.
Not long after, a cross to the far post was headed back across goal by Moharrami and Gabbia did well to intervene with an excellent clearance. Then, Tatarusanu made a smart low save to deny a curling shot from the edge of the box and Kjaer made a block as the home side ramped up the pressure.
Midway through the first half it should have been 1-0 to Milan as a lovely ball by Leao found Rebic in the area all alone, but the Croatian mishit the ball from an excellent position.
Rebic missed another glorious opportunity a few minutes later when the ball fell to Tonali on the edge of the box and he sent the winger through on goal yet he took too many touched when he should have shot first time and his eventual attempt was blocked.
Livakovic was forced to make a couple of saves in quick succession as a powerful Giroud header from a Kalulu cross was well stopped by the keeper and then he got down to gather a 25-yarder from Leao at the second attempt.
Just over five minutes before the break, Milan did get themselves in front and it came from a rare set piece goal. A perfect free-kick delivery from Sandro Tonali around 30 yards out was met by the run of Gabbia who headed past Livakovic to score his first ever goal for Milan.
De Ketelaere found himself bearing down on goal in the opening minute of the second half and though he had options to his left where Rebic in particular was open for a potential tap-in, the Belgian went for a sidefoot shot that was blocked.
The lead was doubled in the 49th minute and the circumstances of the goal were quite bizarre. As Rafael Leao brought the ball forward towards the penalty box he seemed to simply dribble in a straight line with defenders dodging out of the way, and then the winger slotted past Livakovic with composure to get his first goal in the competition this season.
Not long after that the decision was made to bring De Ketelaere off in place of Rade Krunic.
The game could have been put to bed a few minutes later when another wonderful cross by Tonali from the right met the head of Giroud who got plenty of contact but it was ultimately saved.
Giroud did get his name on the scoresheet having been denied twice with headers, but it came from a penalty rather than open play. A lovely ball in behind from Rebic was heading for Tonali running in behind and Ljubicic pulled him down, with the referee pointing to the spot and Giroud converting with confidence into the top corner.
After giving away the penalty things got even worse for Ljubicic as he scored an own-goal that was as bizarre as it was comical. Leao surged away from his man down the left and dinked a ball to Giroud who whiffed at a shot, but the wing-back was following in and somehow nodded it past his own goalkeeper.
A triple change followed from Pioli as Leao, Theo Hernandez and Bennacer came off for Junior Messias, Fode Ballo-Toure and Tommaso Pobega.
Milan had several chances to make it closer to a cricket score in truth with Giroud having a couple of attempts saved from crosses – including a smart reaction stop from a near-post header – and Krunic went through on goal one-on-one but Livakovic saved well.
The final change saw Divock Origi come on for Giroud, and the final big chance of the game saw Rebic drag a shot wide when through on goal in what could have ended up being a huge margin of victory for Milan, but they ended up having to settle for four.
A very good collective display, I’m very happy.
Ruthless would have been to finish all those chances. Good game though.
Come on, don’t be nitpicky, we were unlucky on a few occasions and their goalkeeper had a spectacular performance.
Most of those chances got blocked by Zagreb GK who played really well. If it’s not for his blocks, Milan already scored 7 or 8 goals.
Good game but scoreline should have been 7-0. We need to be more critical in front of goal.
Impressive performance from Tata
Nice results!
Everyone plays really well…except Rebic. He definitely didn’t fit to play as RW.
He did better than most… weird
No he didn’t.
Gabbia played wonderfully well, Tata also was great.
Rebic did really well on RW, he should play there against Torino. Gabbia was great, Kjaer was smooth and organized defence really well, Tata was solid. Theo and Kalulu were just massive. Leao is lethal Tonali and Bennacer dominated the midfield. Giorud made life difficult for their defence all the time. I feel bad for CDK…..
And to complete a wonderful round, La Vecchia PUTA was eliminated :-D.
The renewal of Leão is an absolute priority, it is possible that the board will not be successful in this endeavor, ok, s*h*i*t happens, but any fan who has the DESIRE that Milan get rid of the player, honestly, does not know how to distinguish a soccer ball from a pineapple .
Good answer by the team after that ‘dreadful’ match against Chelsea. Should’ve scored more than. 4, but we move.