AC Milan 6-1 Sassuolo: Rossoneri cruise into quarter-finals with ruthless display | OneFootball

AC Milan booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia in very convincing fashion, putting Sassuolo to the sword in a 6-1 win.

The damage was done in 11 first-half minutes as Samuel Chukwueze scored a brace either side of a long-range striker from Tijjani Reijnders, then Rafael Leao got a fourth.

Davide Calabria got the fifth before a consolation from Sassuolo’s main threat Mulattieri, but Tammy Abraham added some gloss back to the scoreline.

The result means that Milan are through and were able to manage some players’ workloads in view of the game later this week. Roma or Sampdoria await in the next round.

With an eye on the Atalanta game on Friday and with both Mike Maignan and Theo Hernandez out, Paulo Fonseca made eight changes to the starting line-up from the team that beat Empoli. The likes of Filippo Terracciano, Davide Calabria, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham got the nod, but Youssouf Fofana, Tijjani Reijnders and Rafael Leao remained in the XI.

Milan had the first big chance of the game less than two minutes in, and it fell to Loftus-Cheek. A lovely overhead flick from Abraham found Leao whose attempted dribble into the box was tackled into the path of the English midfielder. His first-time shot was hard but straight at the goalkeeper Satalino and parried away.

The ball was in the back of the net after eight minutes as Abraham provided a powerful header from a chipped Leao cross, though the offside flag was raised as the winger had just strayed a couple of yards while making his run.

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The Rossoneri played their way out of the press well a couple of minutes later with Fofana spinning his man and leading the break. Loftus-Cheek unleashed a powerful shot that just fizzed wide of the far post from around 25 yards out.

In the 12th minute, Milan did get the goal that their early pressure had suggested was on the way. A fantastic ball over the top found a diagonal run in behind the Sassuolo defence from Chukwueze, who brought it down well, hit the post with his first shot then buried the rebound.

Five minutes after the first goal, it was 2-0 to the home side and Reijnders continued his excellent form with a seventh goal of the season. Again Leao and Abraham linked well near the left corner of the box but it was the Dutchman who was on hand to thump home with a venomous strike from just outside the edge of the box.

Just before the midway point in the first half it became a three-goal Milan lead as Chukwueze got his second goal of the night. The Sassuolo defence seemed to have given up tracking any runners in behind, with the Nigerian collecting feed from Abraham and curling in with composure one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Things went from bad to worse for Fabio Grosso’s side as Milan went four goals up in the 23rd minute. Loftus-Cheek turned provider this time for what was a goal very similar to the equaliser against Lazio earlier in the season; a run to the right side of the box and a fierce low first-time shot.

Four goals before the half-hour mark could have killed the contest and yet the two teams continued to trade chances. Mulattieri glanced a header over the bar from a Volpato cross, and at the other end Abraham wasn’t far off getting his name on the scoresheet with a spinning shot he dragged just wide.

The final two bits of action in the first half involved a Loftus-Cheek header from a brilliant Chukwueze delivery that went just wide, and the away side having a goal disallowed for offside as Antisti buried a rebound from a Volpato shot.

With a ticket to the quarter-finals stamped after 45 minutes, Fonseca made four changes at the break. Lorenzo Torriani, Yunus Musah, Noah Okafor and Christian Pulisic came on while Sportiello, Reijnders, Fofana and Leao made way.

The second half started in a predictably slow manner but it was Milan who further padded their lead 10 minutes after the break. Pulisic sent in a curling cross that beat everyone and cannoned off the post, where Davide Calabria was on hand to smash home the rebound.

Then, the small contingent of travelling fans finally got something to celebrate as they made it 5-1. A cut-back from the right side was hit first time towards the near post by Mulattieri and it snuck in, with Torriani surely wishing he had done better.

The four-goal deficit didn’t last for long though as Milan got a sixth, and finally Abraham got his goal. The substitute Okafor was the provider with a precision ball through the centre-backs that rolled nicely for the Englishman, who gave it a deft dink over the goalkeeper.

The final change did not see Francesco Camarda come on but instead his youth sector team-mate Davide Bartesaghi, replacing Reijnders. The full-back thought he should have had a penalty when he lashed at a cross that fell to him at the far post and was taken out, yet replays show the ball was taken too.