Patrick Cutrone continued his fine pre-season form as AC Milan stunned Bayern Munich in the International Champions Cup.
AC Milan stunned Bayern Munich with a commanding 4-0 victory in the International Champions Cup on Saturday.
First goals for the club from Franck Kessie and Hakan Calhanoglu, either side of a double from young striker Patrick Cutrone, gave Vincenzo Montella’s side the win in Shenzhen against a disjointed Bayern side.
Rossoneri fans were also treated to debuts for Leonardo Bonucci, who came on in the second half for his first appearance since completing a shock transfer from Juventus, as well as fellow star signing Andre Silva.
Milan’s 3-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund led to supporters calling for further reinforcements to the squad during an already hectic transfer window, but Saturday’s clash started in far more encouraging fashion.
Kessie opened the scoring with 14 minutes played, the midfielder reacting quickest to prod in Ricardo Rodriguez’s deflected cross after good interplay between the fullback and M’Baye Niang.
Eleven minutes later, Milan doubled their lead. Bayern’s dreadful defending from a Rodriguez free kick allowed Cutrone to ghost in unmarked and head beyond Christian Fruchtl from 12 yards.
Matters got worse for Bayern before the break as Juan Bernat hobbled off after falling awkwardly, before Robert Lewandowski sent a volley narrowly wide and then failed to connect from point-blank range after a dazzling run from Franck Ribery.
Moments later, Milan made it 3-0 in style. Niang started a counter-attack from his own half, exchanged passes with Cutrone and released Giacomo Bonaventura into the area down the left, the midfielder crossing for Cutrone to tap home his second.
Bayern brought on James Rodriguez as well as reportedly Milan target Renato Sanches at the break and began to build some sustained pressure, Thomas Muller stinging the palms of Gianluigi Donnarumma with a strike from 25 yards out.
Bonucci came on to a rapturous reception with just under half an hour to play, but Bayern’s possession led to little more than a chance for Corentin Tolisso that ended up in the side-netting.
The Bundesliga champions were looking resigned to their loss and Calhanoglu took full advantage with five minutes left to play, the Turkey international collecting Gustavo Gomez’s pass, drifting infield from the left and blasting low past Fruchtl before a single Bayern challenge had been attempted.
Ancelotti will be looking for much more when they meet Chelsea in Singapore in three days’ time, while Milan will take renewed confidence into next Thursday’s Europa League qualifying first leg against CS U Craiova.
– This story originally appeared onFourFourTwo.co.za
