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AC Milan continued their perfect start to the Europa League group stage with a dominant display on their way to a 3-0 win over Sparta Prague at Stadio San Siro on Thursday night.
A first-half goal from Brahim Díaz gave the Rossoneri the lead before Zlatan Ibrahimovic missed a penalty for the hosts. However, Rafael Leao and Diogo Dalot found their goal after the break to condemn Esparta to a second consecutive European defeat.
Milan will turn their attention back to domestic action as they hope to continue their undefeated start to the new Serie A campaign when they face Udinese on Sunday afternoon.
It was the Rossoneri who opened the competition with their front foot, as they deprived the visitors of possession and rushed forward in a seemingly constant wave of attack. However, despite their dominance, Stefano Pioli’s men encountered clear difficulties in the first quarter of an hour.
With Sparta nearly stuck in reverse and being forced to play the ball backward even when they had possession, Milan’s pressure finally paid off midway through the first verse. Heavy pressure from the host forced a loose pass from Sparta’s baseline and Ibrahimovic was available to play on Diaz on the first goal of the game.
Just ten minutes after setting up the opener, Ibrahimovic would have a chance to double the Rossoneri lead when David Lischka brought him down in the box, but the generally infallible forward smashed his kick point off the crossbar, much to his disbelief.
The visitors began to show signs of life as time drew to a close but could not break through Milan’s determined defense and would return to the locker room still behind a goal when the half-time whistle sounded.
The break did little to stop the Rossoneri dominance and they would double their lead with less than a quarter of an hour from the second verse. Substitute Leao, who had replaced Ibrahimovic at halftime, had an almost immediate impact on the match when he took advantage of Dalot’s perfect cross to give the hosts some breathing space.
Dalot went from supplier to scorer less than ten minutes later, when Sandro Tonali’s quick free kick gave him a clean run to the goal. The defender was not wrong with the opportunity, as he threw a low shot on Milan Heca to almost end the game like a contest.
With Sparta resigned to defeat, the final stages of the clash offered little entertainment as the Rossoneri maintained possession and secured two wins out of two in the Europa League.
The post-AC Milan cruise to victory over Sparta Prague first appeared on Forza Italian Football.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com
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