Cisse's debut hat-trick lifts pressure off Milan in Salzburg rout
A teenage striker's first career treble gave Ruben Amorim's side a 4-0 Europa League win that eased the strain after a damaging home defeat to Benfica.
Alphadjo Cisse scored three goals in the space of 34 minutes as Milan beat RB Salzburg 4-0 in Austria, giving Ruben Amorim's side a result they badly needed after a difficult run of form.
The Rossoneri arrived at Stadion Salzburg carrying the weight of a 2-0 home loss to Benfica and only one win in their last four Serie A outings, according to Football Italia. Amorim used the trip to freshen his side, handing first starts of the season to Francesco Camarda and Fikayo Tomori, with Alexis Saelemaekers and Matteo Gabbia both missing long-term.
Salzburg, who had won 1-0 at Levski Sofia in their opening Europa League group fixture, were without five players including Justin Omoregie and Nikolas Veratschnig, while goalkeeper Christian Zawieschitzky returned from an adductor problem.
Cisse turns half-chances into a hat-trick
Milan were the better side from the start. Adrien Rabiot should have scored inside nine minutes when he met a Davide Bartesaghi pull-back from close range, only to see his effort deflect wide off Camarda. The opener followed soon after: Omari Hutchinson whipped in a cross with his weaker foot and Cisse got ahead of his marker to head home from seven yards in the 15th minute.
Milan nearly doubled their lead moments later when Zawieschitzky rushed out to block Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Kevin Boma had to clear off the line to stop Hutchinson turning in the rebound. At the other end, Haris Tabakovic put the ball in the net, though the passage that created the chance had already run out of play, and Bartosz Mazurek sent a separate effort wide.
Cisse's second arrived in the 32nd minute. Bartesaghi volleyed a Rabiot cross back across goal from the byline, and the forward cushioned it in from six yards. His third came four minutes into the second half, Milan breaking at pace after Loftus-Cheek's long ball sent Rabiot clear down the left; his cutback found Cisse just in time to side-foot home from close range and complete his first career hat-trick.
At 19 years and 358 days old, Cisse became the youngest Italian to score a hat-trick in a European fixture, and the first Milan player to manage the feat in continental competition since Filippo Inzaghi did so against Deportivo La Coruna in September 2002, Football Italia reported.
A fourth goal built on the pressing trigger
Milan were not finished. Mike Maignan came well outside his area to dispossess Edmund Baidoo, while at the other end Hutchinson ran onto a clever pass from Luka Modric and cut inside, only for the goalkeeper's trailing boot to deny him. Bartesaghi also tested Zawieschitzky, and Christian Pulisic failed to keep a header down from another Hutchinson delivery.
The fourth goal came from a different source: pressure rather than a passing move. Ardon Jashari's high press forced Mazurek into a mistake, and Goncalo Ramos punished it to make it 4-0 in the 72nd minute. It was a reminder that Milan's attacking threat in Salzburg was not limited to Cisse's movement in the box, but extended to how aggressively they worked to win the ball back in dangerous areas.
Milan still finished the match with ten men. Filippo Terracciano was caught upfield on a Salzburg counter-attack and shoved Schmid just outside the penalty area, earning a red card in the 84th minute. The dismissal did not threaten the result, but it is a detail Amorim will want ironed out before tougher fixtures.
What the result changes for Milan
For a squad under scrutiny after the Benfica setback, the performance offered more than just three points. Camarda and Tomori both got minutes in a match Milan controlled for long periods, and Cisse's emergence gives Amorim a credible attacking option who scored through sharp near-post movement rather than fortune.
Elsewhere on the same Europa League matchday, Crystal Palace lost 3-2 away to Lyon, with Pierre Sage's side beaten by his former club after goals from Corentin Tolisso and Ernest Nuamah put the hosts in control, the Guardian reported.
Milan's next task is converting this continental form into domestic results, with the Serie A campaign still searching for the consistency that eluded them before the trip to Austria.