First-half blitz sees AC Milan record win at home against Lecce
Buoyed by a dramatic Derby della Madonnina victory against Inter Milan last week, the Rossoneri welcomed a resurgent Leece side that had picked up five points from their previous three games before heading to the San Siro.
The Giallorossi have often left this iconic stadium empty-handed in recent years, but made a promising start here, as Mike Maignan was called into action early to tip away Nikola Krstovic’s driven strike.
In contrast, Paulo Fonseca’s side were comparatively sluggish against their well-organised and disciplined opponents.
There was very little joy for a Milan side boasting a plethora of attacking talent.
So much so that the Rossoneri had failed to register a solitary attempt on target until they managed to break the deadlock in the 38th minute, courtesy of Alvaro Morata.
The Spain captain met an enticing outswinging set-piece from Theo Hernandez with a superb glancing header, and Milan’s first-half struggles were suddenly forgotten.
What followed was truly remarkable, as Luca Gotti’s side capitulated in the closing stages of the first half.
Hernandez added his name to the scoresheet less than three minutes later when he lashed a close-range finish past Wladimiro Falcone from Rafael Leao's pass.
That goal ensured the Frenchman matched the legendary Paolo Maldini's record of 29 goals, becoming the club's joint-highest scoring defender in Serie A history.
The hosts then rubbed salt into Leece's gaping wounds when Christian Pulisic reacted to a fortunate ricochet inside the box from Tammy Abraham's initial strike, and fired home the loose ball.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek was introduced after the restart in place of Morata - forced off with injury - and had a chance to make an almost immediate impact following some fine link-up play involving Leao and Hernandez down the left flank, but shot wide from inside the area.
There were very few moments of encouragement for Gotti’s men in a lacklustre second half, until Lameck Banda exploited a gap in Milan’s defence and saw his subsequent strike cannon off the post.
Fonseca’s side saw out the closing stages with relative ease, but there was to be a blemish on an otherwise fine evening for the hosts when Davide Bartesaghi was shown a straight red card on his first-team debut for a challenge on Banda.
It would have no effect on the outcome of the match, as Milan - at least temporarily - moved up to second, while Leece remain 17th.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Theo Hernandez (AC Milan)