Rafael Leao netted the opening Serie A goal of 2026, securing a victory for a revamped Milan in their away match against Cagliari, while Niclas Fullkrug made his debut.
Pervis Estupinan replaced Bartesaghi and promptly committed two mistakes within the first two minutes, yet Matteo Prati and Marco Palestra were unable to capitalize on them. Michel Adopo’s header went directly to Mike Maignan, while Sebastiano Luperto stopped Rafael Leao from connecting with the roll from Alexis Saelemaekers on the right.
Luca Mazzitelli managed to hit the side-netting following a clever dinked pass from Prati. Cagliari narrowly escaped a penalty just before half-time when Juan Rodriguez fouled Ruben Loftus-Cheek; however, the decision was correct as Leao was offside in the preceding play.
Leao struck the crossbar at the start of the second half, but it wouldn’t have counted, as the ball had already gone out of play during the corner.
Loftus-Cheek was onside when he nodded an Alexis Saelemaekers cross over, and Milan broke the deadlock shortly after, displaying a noticeably different attitude as they began the second half.
Adrien Rabiot advanced down the right following a pass from Youssouf Fofana and delivered a cross. Gabriele Zappa was unable to intercept, allowing Leao to take control with his right foot and strike into the far top corner with his left from nine yards out. This marked the 12th occasion in Serie A this season that Milan found the net with their initial shot on target.
Sebastiano Esposito exited the match due to cramp, while Niclas Fullkrug made his debut for Milan, just hours after finalizing his loan move from West Ham.
Semih Kilicsoy’s overhead kick was deflected wide by Samuele Ricci, while Elia Caprile felt the sting of Pulisic’s shot at the back post, assisted by Fullkrug.
Luka Modric’s clever free kick was curled low around the wall, aiming for the near bottom corner, with Caprile diving to push it off the line.