GdS: ‘Milan show’ – how cup progress was sealed ‘beautifully and relentlessly’ vs. Lecce

AC Milan cruised past Lecce in the Coppa Italia round of 32 to make it four wins in a row across all competitions.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write this morning, it is Milan’s fifth win in six games to begin the season. Last night they swept Lecce in the second round of the cup and earned a place in the last 16 against Lazio in December. There was no contest as Lecce were ‘pounded from start to finish’.

Three goals, three posts and one crossbar hit means that 3-0 doesn’t quite convey the truth. Lecce were down to ten men for over an hour following Siebert’s red card, but in the 20 minutes they played at even strength, they were battered too.

Santiago Gimenez broke the deadlock with a goal to make it 1-0. Christopher Nkunku made it 2-0 with an acrobatic scissor kick. Substitute Christian Pulisic added the third and final goal. The performance should be celebrated with satisfaction, but with some restraint too.

The next two league games, against Napoli and Juventus, will reveal the first truth about the new Milan. Two of the five victories mentioned came against a destitute Lecce, 2-0 in the league at the Via del Mare and 3-0 yesterday at San Siro.

The other three victories came against Bari (in the Coppa Italia), Bologna and Udinese (in Serie A). Confirmation of the ability to do this against opponents of a higher level is needed, but the Napoli and Juventus games are coming at the right time.

Countless chances

Eight scoring opportunities, including a post and a crossbar, and a goal from Gimenez. That was Milan’s attacking performance in the first half, with the team playing with a man advantage starting in the 18th minute following Siebert’s red card, after a VAR review.

It was constant superiority from the Rossoneri, both in possession and in flanking moves, yet they went into half-time with a measly one-goal lead. The first half of yesterday’s match was all about Gimenez, who still missed chances.

Chance number one: a shot that hit the Lecce goalkeeper, Fruchtl. Chance two: a header over the bar following a beautiful cross from the left by Nkunku. Chance three: an off-target shot following an assist from Bartesaghi. Number four was a success: Bartesaghi again with the cross, this time the finish came.

The finish wasn’t the cleanest, but it was better he scored than missed, by any means. With the mission accomplished, San Siro erupted as if Milan had scored in the Champions League, and rightly so. Gimenez is a good centre-forward, but needs confidence and self-esteem.

Other opportunities included Nkunku somehow hitting the post from a few yards out with the goal gaping and Adrien Rabiot rattling the crossbar after a nice feed from Alexis Saelemekers. Then Strahinja Pavlovic forced Fruchtl to tip his free kick over.

In the first 45 minutes, Milan displayed a festival of missed opportunities against a Lecce side entrenched in a flawed 5-3-2, which Di Francesco changed to a 4-4-1 after Siebert was sent off.

Killing it off

At half-time, the discussion was about how the game should be wrapped up as quickly as possible, that Milan must score early to make it 2-0 and ensure no scares. There were three chances early in the second half that suggested the message from Massimiliano Allegri in the dressing room was exactly that.

A diagonal shot from Loftus-Cheek was tipped onto the post by the goalkeeper; Nkunku burst in close to the net but fired over, and a cross from Saelemaekers was finally turned in by the Frenchman with a scissor kick.

The French forward, acquired from Chelsea, blends speed, technique, and power, and it will be interesting see him in action against a defence as structured as Antonio Conte’s Napoli. Added to Rafael Leao, Gimenez and Pulisic, it is an attack with plenty of options.

At 2-0, the match became a long descent towards the 90th minute. Pulisic came on for Nkunku and made it 3-0 from a Youssouf Fofana cross. Lecce’s one moment was a free-kick from Berisha, punched over by Maignan.

Milan played ‘beautifully and relentlessly’, but the opponent were submissive and disorganised, so there’s no need to overdo the celebrations or compliments. The signs are positive, but tougher tests are to come.