Milan edge past Torino in Serie A opener
Milan secured a narrow victory at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, beating their hosts 2-1 in the opening matchday of the Serie A campaign. The result extends the visitors' winning start to two games, while Torino remain winless after two defeats. The match featured a period of relative calm before a flurry of activity in the second half shifted the balance.
The first half produced little of note, but the turning point came around the fifty-second minute when Ruben Loftus-Cheek picked up a yellow card. That moment seemed to unsettle the visitors, and Milan responded with a substitution just four minutes later, bringing on Ardon Jashari for Loftus-Cheek. To be fair, the tactical shift didn't immediately show on the scoreboard.
Then came the goals. At sixty-four minutes, Alpha Cisse gave Milan the lead, and the visitors doubled their advantage two minutes later through Adrien Rabiot. Both goals arrived within a tight window, and Cisse was immediately substituted at sixty-six minutes, replaced by an incoming player. The away side had found their rhythm, and by then Torino were chasing the game.
Torino pushed forward with three substitutions at seventy minutes, bringing on Marcus Pedersen, Cesare Casadei, and Giovanni Simeone in an attempt to get back into the match. The hosts finally got on the scoreboard at the ninety-minute mark through Conor Adams, but they needed extra time to find another equaliser. Adams struck again at ninety-plus-three minutes, though the final result stood at 1-2.
The statistics tell a story of Milan controlling proceedings. They held fifty-nine per cent possession and created more clear-cut opportunities, registering an expected goals total of 2.15 compared to Torino's 1.29. The visitors also registered four shots on target from thirteen attempts, while the home side could only manage one shot on target from six attempts.
What the numbers don't capture is how Milan managed to close out the game despite Torino's late surge. The hosts had been second to everything for most of the contest, but the away end never stopped pressing in the final moments. The result keeps Milan in fourth place with six points after two games, while Torino sit fifteenth with none.
