AC Milan 3-0 Lecce: Nkunku gets off the mark in dominant Coppa Italia win

AC Milan reached the last 16 of the Coppa Italia in style as they beat 10-man Lecce 3-0 at the San Siro.

Santiago Gimenez ended his drought before Christopher Nkunku netted his maiden goal for the Rossoneri, while Christian Pulisic completed the scoring as Milan set up a tie against Lazio.

Milan made a fast start, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek seeing an effort cleared off the line before Nkunku struck the woodwork in the 10th minute, and the task at hand for Lecce was made harder when Jamil Siebert was shown a red card following a VAR check for a foul on the Frenchman.

Gimenez then opened the scoring in the 20th minute, turning home Davide Bartesaghi’s cross from close range, before Adrien Rabiot’s strike crashed against the woodwork.

Massimiliano Allegri’s side hit the frame of the goal for the third time two minutes into the second half, this time through Loftus-Cheek, but Nkunku doubled their lead in the 51st minute with an acrobatic volley from Alexis Saelemaeker’s centre.

Then, just three minutes after coming on as a substitute, Pulisic swept Youssouf Fofana’s cross beyond the reach of Christian Fruchtl to put the result beyond any doubt.

What a way to open your Milan account pic.twitter.com/0vxOH479ai

— AC Milan (@acmilan) September 23, 2025

Data Debrief: Ton up for Nkunku

Milan were at their free-flowing best when creating chances, but Allegri may be wondering how his side only scored three goals. They produced 4.33 expected goals (xG) from 24 shots, compared to Lecce’s meagre 0.17 from two attempts.

Although this was Nkunku’s first goal in the famous red and black of Milan, it was the 100th of his professional career (11 with Paris Saint-Germain, 70 with RB Leipzig, 18 with Chelsea and one with Milan).

There was also another goal for Pulisic against Lecce, with the American now finding the back of the net six times in five matches against them.