AC Milan reached the last 16 of the Coppa Italia in style as they beat 10-man Lecce 3-0 at the San Siro.
Match Report
Nkunku gets off the mark in dominant Coppa Italia win as Santiago Gimenez and Pulisic score.
Santiago Gimenez ended his drought before Christopher Nkunku netted his maiden goal for the Rossoneri, while Christian Pulisic completed the scoring as Milan set up a tie against Lazio.
Milan made a fast start, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek seeing an effort cleared off the line before Nkunku struck the woodwork in the 10th minute, and the task at hand for Lecce was made harder when Jamil Siebert was shown a red card following a VAR check for a foul on the Frenchman.
Gimenez then opened the scoring in the 20th minute, turning home Davide Bartesaghi's cross from close range, before Adrien Rabiot's strike crashed against the woodwork.
Massimiliano Allegri's side hit the frame of the goal for the third time two minutes into the second half, this time through Loftus-Cheek, but Nkunku doubled their lead in the 51st minute with an acrobatic volley from Alexis Saelemaeker's centre.
Then, just three minutes after coming on as a substitute, Pulisic swept Youssouf Fofana's cross beyond the reach of Christian Fruchtl to put the result beyond any doubt.
Data Debrief: Ton up for Nkunku
Milan were at their free-flowing best when creating chances, but Allegri may be wondering how his side only scored three goals. They produced 4.33 expected goals (xG) from 24 shots, compared to Lecce's meagre 0.17 from two attempts.
Although this was Nkunku's first goal in the famous red and black of Milan, it was the 100th of his professional career (11 with Paris Saint-Germain, 70 with RB Leipzig, 18 with Chelsea and one with Milan).
There was also another goal for Pulisic against Lecce, with the American now finding the back of the net six times in five matches against them.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
2' Highlight from Milan vs Lecce
9' Highlight from Milan vs Lecce
10' Match Event for Milan vs Lecce
14' Match Event for Milan vs Lecce
18' Red Card! Jamil Siebert sent off
20' GOAL! Milan 1-0 Lecce (Santiago Gimenez)
30' Match Event for Milan vs Lecce
42' Highlight from Milan vs Lecce
45' Match Event for Milan vs Lecce
48' Match Event for Milan vs Lecce
51' GOAL! Milan 2-0 Lecce (Christopher Nkunku)
60' Match Event for Milan vs Lecce
64' GOAL! Milan 3-0 Lecce (Christian Pulisic)
71' Highlight from Milan vs Lecce
75' Match Event for Milan vs Lecce
Line-ups
Milan XI: Maignan, Rabiot, Loftus-Cheek, Tomori, Nkunku, Santiago Gimenez, Alexis Saelemaekers, Samuele Ricci, S. Pavlovic, Koni De Winter, Davide Bartesaghi
Subs: Modric, Pietro Terracciano, Pervis Estupiñán, Pulisic, Gabbia, Youssouf Fofana, D. Odogu, Torriani, Zachary Athekame, Cheveyo Balentien
Lecce XI: Tete Morente, Fruchtl, Thórir Jóhann Helgason, Konan N’Dri, Corrie Ndaba, Jamil Siebert, Danilo Veiga, Mohamed Kaba, Medon Berisha, Francesco Camarda, Tiago Gabriel
Subs: Wladimiro Falcone, Ylber Ramadani, Coulibaly, Antonino Gallo, Álex Sala, Santiago Pierotti, Jasper Samooja, Nikola Stulic, Kialonda Gaspar, Olaf Gorter, Niko Kovač, Christ-Owen Kouassi