AC Milan beat Monza as Morata makes first Rossoneri appearance | OneFootball

Milan 3-1 Monza

Paolo Fonseca's first game in charge of Milan at San Siro ended in victory as the Rossoneri warmed up for the 2024-25 campaign with a 3-1 win over Monza.

Scorers: Saelemaekers 11', Jovic 47, Reijnders 56': Maldini 34'

The new Milan boss gave debuts to summer addition Álvaro Morata in a strong starting XI that included Rafael Leão and Theo Hernández.

But it was returning loanee Alexis Saelemaekers who continued for Milan where he left off for Bologna last season and opened the scoring for his side after just 11 minutes.

The Belgian's attempted Rabona effort took a wicked deflection off a Monza defender to leave the Monza goalkeeper stranded, and hand the home side the lead.

But as one returning star aided Milan, another came back to haunt them with 10 minutes left in the first half as Daniel Maldini fired Monza level after he raced onto a low cross from Samuel Vignato.

Fonseca made 11 changes at the break and his new-look side immediately took the lead courtesy of forgotten man Luka Jovic. 10 minutes later, they went further ahead thanks to impressive EURO 2024 midfielder Tijjani Reijnders. The Dutch midfielder thundered home a free kick from 30 yards out in impressive fashion to double his side's advantage.

The game began to peter out as both sides turned to their benches, and neither side could find another effort to trouble the scorers in what ended as a fine night for Fonseca and Milan.