SAILING THROUGH TO ROUND 2

AC Milan brushed aside Lecce on Tuesday night to book their place in Round Two of the Coppa Italia.

Goals from Santi Gimenez, Christopher Nkunku and Christian Pulisic ensured a comfortable night in the San Siro, after Lecce’s Jamil Siebert saw red in the 18th minute after tripping Nkunku and denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Lineups & Setup

Milan made six changes from their recent Serie A win over Udinese.

• Goalkeeper: Pietro Terracciano started in goal.
• Defence: Koni De Winter replaced Matteo Gabbia; Pavlovic, Tomori and De Winter made up the back three.
• Midfield: Featured Ricci, Rabiot and Fofana;
• Attack: Nkunku got his first start of the season alongside Santiago Giménez.

Lecce lined up in a 4-3-3, trying to press and disrupt Milan’s build-up early.

Key Moments & Goals

• 21′ – Santiago Giménez opened the scoring, finding the net with a simple finish to put Milan ahead - thus ending his recent goal drought. It was a well controlled volley across goal for him by Bartesaghi.
• 51′ – Christopher Nkunku doubled the advantage. He capitalised on a good move down the wing, arriving in the box to meet Saelemaekers' excellent cross with an acrobatic finish.
• 64′ – Christian Pulisic made it 3-0 after great work from Youssouf Fofana, who provided the assist. A well-timed run and good positioning let Pulisic get on the end and finish cleanly into the corner.

Other noteworthy moments:

• 18′ – Lecce’s Jamil Siebert was sent off, reducing the visitors to ten men and making Milan’s task significantly easier.
• Milan had a period of dominance in possession (often over 70%), with Lecce struggling to sustain any momentum.

Tactical Takeaways

• With Lecce a man down early, Milan shifted to control the game, keeping possession, stretching the pitch with their wing-backs, and creating overloads in midfield.
• The decision to start Nkunku and Giménez paid off — both forwards looked sharp, made good runs behind the defence, and combined well with the midfield.
• Fofana was key: really effective in breaking lines and supplying good passes, especially with the assist for Pulisic.
• Milan’s defensive shape remained steady. Though Lecce rarely tested them in the final third.

Player Ratings / Standouts

• Christian Pulisic – excellent finish moments after his introduction and always a threat. His movement unsettled Lecce’s defence.
• Youssouf Fofana – vital for Milan’s control in midfield; the assist for Pulisic underlines his influence.
• Santiago Giménez – got the opener, and offered good work rate up front. Hopefully the Mexican international can kick on now.
• Ruben Loftus-Cheek – An influential performance from within the engine room. Unlucky not to score when hitting the upright in the second half.

Lecce didn’t have many positives: the red card hurt, their chance creation was scarce, and once Milan found rhythm they never really looked like coming back.

Final Thoughts

Milan move comfortably into the Round of 16 with this 3-0 win. Given the early dismissal of a Lecce player, the result isn’t surprising, but Milan were professional in their approach and efficient in front of goal.

For the Rossoneri, this result could offer a boost in confidence—especially for the fringe players who got starts and Gimenez who ended a personal goal-shy run of games. For Lecce, it's a disappointing night, but getting a red card so early made the task impossible.