AC Milan edged past Lazio 3-1 at San Siro on a late Sunday afternoon in Serie A.
Keisuke Honda opened the scoring for Milan before Sulley Muntari doubled the lead for the Rossoneri. Jeremy Menez made sure of the points when he converted a penalty he himself won. An own goal from Alex produced Lazio’s only goal.
The game saw both Pippo Inzaghi and Stefano Pioli begin their tenures as coaches of their respective clubs and it was Pippo’s men who started off the better – Stephan El Shaarawy having a shot saved by Etrit Berisha but had been flagged offside.
The good start by Milan resulted in an early goal for the Rossoneri, El Shaarawy lead the counter attack and played a smart ball across the area to the unmarked Honda who finished underneath the body of Berisha.
The opening quarter had settled into a midfield battle with a lot of petty fouls occurring as Lazio winger Keita tried and failed to get past Ignazio Abate and to get his side into the game.
With both sides playing 4-3-3, Milan were using their strength on the wing to their advantage – Jeremy Menez fizzing a low hit pass all the way across the Lazio box.
Sulley Muntari dragged a poor shot wide from 20 yards as Milan looked to double their lead before Lazio finally managed their first shot on target just before the half hour mark from Senad Lulic, however the strike was easily caught by Diego Lopez.
A first half bereft of any real chances came to a close following a poorly hit cross from Menez.
The second half saw Pioli’s men begin to come into the game more, Miroslav Klose nearly getting his head onto a powerful delivery from Lulic but was cut out by the impressive debut of Alex.
Despite Lazio’s good start, Muntari doubled Milan’s lead inside the opening 10 minutes. Abate whipped in a fantastic ball that the Ghanaian met smartly, despite four Lazio men surrounding him, leaving Berisha with no chance.
The goal really began to open the game and Milan were awarded a penalty on the hour mark. Menez went down softly under a challenge from Stefan de Vrij. The Frenchman dusted himself down and took the spot-kick himself, sticking the ball in the bottom left corner.
Just five minutes later Lazio grabbed a goal to make a game of things. The Brazilian Alex looked to have turned the ball into his own net under pressure from Filip Djordjevic.
Milan looked to counter on Lazio with the Biancocelesti chasing the game. Menez again drove at the Lazio backline but Michael Essien couldn’t latch onto his pass as the game entered the final quarter.
Stefano Mauri began to cause the Milan defence their own problems having come on as a substitute but couldn’t create himself a clear cut chance as the clock ticked down at San Siro.
It looked as if Antonio Candreva would make it a nervy finish but Lopez made a fantastic relex stop down to his right in the final five minutes.
Lazio did grab their own penalty in injury time, Candreva who won the penalty took it and Lopez came up big and pushed the spot-kick away.
The Rossoneri were able to play out the final minute and give coach Inzaghi the perfect start to life on the touchline.
