Milan clinched their third league win in a row. A great five minutes just before half-time helped the Milan team win 3-0 against Lecce. So the dress rehearsal before the duel with Bayer Leverkusen was a success.
Grapes of celebration: Milan celebrated their next win in the league.
IMAGO/LaPresse
For long stretches of the first round, the spectators in Milan were served lean food. Lecce started bravely, but wasn’t really compelling offensively. The home team tried, but didn’t come into their own offensively at all.
Milan’s hat-trick before half-time
The spectators at the Giuseppe Meazza on Friday evening saw impressively that a standard can often be a can opener in a game like this. Morata headed in a cross from Theo with the help of the underside of the crossbar (38th), opening a sensational five minutes for the home team. Shortly after the lead, Theo hit the crossbar after a dream pass from Rafael Leao (41′). Shortly later, Pulisic made it 3-0 and completed the hat-trick for the home team (43′). With this 3-0 we also went into the dressing rooms and the guests will have asked themselves what happened shortly before half-time.
Bartesaghi sees red
With these three goals within a short space of time, the favorites naturally had the game on their side. The 3-0 was a decision, as the guest from Lecce was never going to recover from that. Milan played it out cleverly in the second half, without doing more than was absolutely necessary, and they were able to save their energy for the next task in the premier class.
There were still chances in the end, Loftus-Cheek’s cross hit the crossbar (71′) and substitute Banda hit the post on the other side (72′). The negative highlight of the second half came from Bartesaghi, who went into a duel with Banda with his leg stretched out and hit his opponent squarely on the right ankle – straight red (80′). The bottom line was 3-0.
Milan continues in the Champions League on Tuesday (9 p.m.), with a guest appearance at German champions Bayer Leverkusen on the agenda. The league continues next Sunday (8:45 p.m.) in Florence. Lecce plays Udinese next Saturday (3 p.m.).
