AC Milan, current champion of Serie A, opened the 2022-2023 season of the Italian league with a 4-2 victory at the San Siro against Udinese, in a match where the Croatian Ante Rebic shone with a brace, while the Inter Milan won 2-1 in Lecce with a goal in stoppage time.
The first two teams in the last Italian league started with victory, although AC Milan had a much calmer first day.
The ‘rossoneri’ seemed at times still on vacation defensively, but their attack saved the situation.
The Brazilian Rodrigo Becao scored the first goal for ‘Calcio’ in the new season, putting Udinese ahead in the second minute, but the Frenchman Theo Hernández equalized for the Milanese in the 11th minute, converting a penalty.
In the 15th minute, a shot by Rebic put the locals ahead, although Udinese equalized before the break with a header from Adam Masina (45+4).
As soon as the second half began, the Spanish Brahim DÃaz (46) put Milan ahead and Rebic, assisted by DÃaz, put the final sentence in the 68th, before leaving his position at the top of the attack to the Frenchman Olivier Giroud.
Charles De Ketelaere and Divock Origi, new faces for Milan for the new season, enjoyed their league debut at the San Siro in the final minutes.
In the Apulia region, in the south of the country, Inter Milan thought they would have a comfortable game at newly promoted Lecce, but their 2-1 victory cost much more than expected.
Belgian Romelu Lukaku was returning to Inter after a gray season at Chelsea and it didn’t take him long to score, heading the ‘Nerazzurri’ ahead ninety seconds into the match.
But the match was not exactly a stroll for Inter, who saw Lecce equalize in the 48th minute with a cross from Assan Ceesay.
Everything seemed to lead to a draw, until Dutchman Denzel Dumfries was able to score (90+5) the final 2-1 for the visitors with a corner kick.
For their part, Atalanta, AC Milan’s next rival, kicked off the season with a 2-0 win at Sampdoria.
Brazil-born Italian international Rafael Toloi (26) and newly signed Ademola Lookman (90+5) scored the goals in that match.
The newly promoted Monza, whose owner is former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, debuted in the elite with a 2-1 loss at home to Torino, which added all three points thanks to goals from Russian Aleksei Miranchuk and Paraguayan Antonio Sanabria.