DESPITE spending nearly £200million in the summer, AC Milan had an academy graduate and Premier League flop to thank for the three points.
Patrick Cutrone, 19, followed up his goal on the opening day of the season with the opener against Cagliari. And former Liverpool winger Suso — who shone for the Rossoneri last season — settled the game with a stunning free-kick.
Having spent so much, and starting the season with an impressive 3-0 win at Crotone, Milan are seen by many as genuine title contenders.
But, judging by this performance, they’re still a long way away.
New signing Ivan Kalinic started on the bench and, in his absence Cutrone stepped up once again.
The 19-year-old followed up his goal on the opening day of the season to tap in from Suso’s inch-perfect cross.
However, Milan were pegged back after their back four — all of which were summer arrivals — were hopelessly caught out. Leonardo Bonucci, in particular, was guilty of being in No Man’s Land and the mix-up allowed Joao Pedro to tap home the equaliser ten minutes into the second-half.
But the lead didn’t last long as Suso put the hosts back in front with a sensational free-kick.
Twice the referee was forced to refer penalty incidents on the VAR system — and both were turned down. Yet, it led to NINE minutes of stoppage time.
However, Milan held firm and made it two wins from two.
Elsewhere, so did Napoli, who came from behind to beat Atalanta at home — a match they lost 2-0 last season. Bryan Cristante gave the visitors an 15th-minute, which lasted until the 57th minute when Piotr Zielinski fired the hosts level with a stunning effort.
Five minutes later, Dries Mertens got his season up and running when he finished off from Lorenzo Insigne’s cross.
And Marko Rog added a late third.
From The Sun
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