AC Milan, coached by Portuguese Paulo Fonseca, achieved its first victory in the 2024/25 edition of the Italian football league today, with a home thrashing of Venezia (4-0) in the fourth round, sealed in the first half.
After two draws and one defeat in the first three rounds of Serie A, Paulo Fonseca finally managed to put the ‘rossoneri’ back on the winning track.
Left-back Théo Hernández, assisted by Rafael Leão, opened the scoring just two minutes in, although he had the valuable help of the opposing goalkeeper, paving the way for Matteo Gabbia (16) to extend the lead.
Even before halftime, two penalties converted by Christian Pulisic (25) and Tammy Abraham (29) left the match practically decided in terms of the victory discussion.
This first triumph in the transalpine championship places the Milanese in eighth position with five points, while Venezia, who ended the match with a numerical disadvantage, finds itself at the bottom of the table with only one point.
Meanwhile, leaders Juventus drew goalless in Empoli and could be overtaken in the standings by champions Inter Milan, Torino, and Udinese.
In Empoli, the first half ended without goals, a scenario that continued in the second 45 minutes, although it was the ‘vecchia signora’ that was almost always closer to scoring at the Carlo Castellani Stadium.
With this outcome, ‘Juve’, Benfica’s opponent in the Champions League, which has not scored in two matches, now has eight points, just one more than Inter (second place), Torino (third), and Udinese (fourth), who will still play their respective matches in the fourth round.
Portuguese international Francisco Conceição, loaned to the Turin club by FC Porto until the end of the season, did not appear in the match sheet due to injury.
In the first match of the day, Como (19th) and Bologna (15th), opponents of Sporting and Benfica in the ‘Champions’, drew 2-2.
An own goal by Nicoló Casale and a goal by Patrick Cutrone gave a two-goal lead to the newly promoted Serie A team, but Santiago Castro and Samuel Júnior restored the draw in the final stretch of the match.