LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 10: Ruben Loftus-Cheek of AC Milan during the pre-season friendly match between Chelsea and AC Milan at Stamford Bridge on August 10, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and substitute Christian Pulisic gave Milan their first points of the season with a 2-0 victory away to Lecce, after two other goals were disallowed.
The Rossoneri had a disastrous start to their Serie A campaign with a home defeat to Cremonese. To make matters worse, Rafael Leao was joined on the treatment table by Ardon Jashari, with Christian Pulisic not fully fit, while Alex Jimenez was left out pending a move to Bournemouth. The Salentini drew 0-0 at Genoa, but signed Nikola Stulic this week, with Francesco Camarda facing his parent club. Balthazar Pierret, Hamza Rafia, Filip Marchwinski and Gaby Jean were out of action.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
Matteo Gabbia had the ball in the net after just five minutes with a free header on a Luka Modric corner, but it was disallowed following a VAR review due to his push on Lassana Coulibaly.
Pervis Estupinan made a series of early mistakes, giving the ball away and then risking a penalty when making up for it on Pierotti, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek was twice denied by Wladimiro Falcone, first on a long ball, then when trying to nod in a Yunus Musah knockdown.
Mohamed Kaba ballooned over the bar from just inside the area, but Santiago Gimenez wasted a golden opportunity when firing wide as he sprung the offside trap.
On the stroke of half-time, Strahinja Pavlovic at full stretch volleyed at the by-line, forcing Falcone to parry with an outstretched leg at the near post.
Stulic came on for his Serie A debut and immediately laid off a ball for Kaba to scuff the finish into the arms of Mike Maignan.
Gimenez had the ball in the net again on 60 minutes when he gathered from a Saelemaekers through ball, turned Kialonda Gaspar and scored from 12 yards, but this too was disallowed for his offside position. Gimenez had nonetheless celebrated holding up the jersey of teammate Jashari, who he had accidentally injured in a training ground collision.
Moments later, Saelemaekers intercepted a wayward Tiago Gabriel pass to sprint forward, brought down by Gaspar for a yellow card.
On the resulting Modric free kick, Milan finally took the lead with a goal that counted, finding Loftus-Cheek for the flicked backwards header from six yards into the far top corner.
Loftus-Cheek rises highest and heads it home to put Milan in front against Lecce! 🔴⚫️💥
GAME ON | Watch Lega Serie A live on https://t.co/i0K4eUu4lJ in select territories
— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) August 29, 2025
Falcone flew for a tricky one-handed save moments later on the Youssouf Fofana strike from distance, while Gimenez’s first touch let him down after Pavlovic ran from one end of the pitch to the other.
Stulic ran onto the Tete Morente disguised pass and tested Maignan at the near post from a tight angle, with Samuele Ricci doing the same on Falcone at the other end. Stulic also wasn’t ready for a wayward N’Dri effort to land at his feet and failed to make the most of the opportunity.
Just 20 seconds later, Milan did pounce on a lucky break, as Gaspar and Danilo Veiga failed to deal with a long Maignan kick, it bounced into the path of Pulisic, who gratefully converted the gift.
Lecce 0-2 Milan
Loftus-Cheek 66 (M), Pulisic 86 (M)
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63′ 20
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87′ 93
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46′ 23
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