Pulisic Guides AC Milan to Victory in Coppa Italia
Christian Pulisic scored the 60th goal of his European career, contributing to AC Milan’s victory over Lecce, who played with ten men, with a final score of 3-0. This triumph secured their advance to the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia.
Santiago Gimenez and Christopher Nkunku also scored for Milan, who now remain firm in the pursuit of a trophy, possibly their best opportunity of the season.
The next challenge for Milan will be against Lazio, one of the seeded teams that received a direct pass in the first two rounds.
Pulisic opened the scoring after Lecce center-back Jamil Siebert was sent off for a foul on Nkunku.
Since the beginning of 2025, Pulisic has scored 14 goals with AC Milan in all competitions, the most for any player on the team.
The American striker has also scored in consecutive Coppa Italia appearances, after failing to score in the first seven matches of the competition.
Gimenez, Mexican forward, scored his first goal of the season in the 20th minute, with a touch after an assist from Davide Bartesaghi.
Nkunku extended the lead after the break with an acrobatic goal from close range. This was his first goal since joining the team in August.
Pulisic, minutes after coming on as a substitute, deflected a cross from Youssouf Fofana with a touch. This was his third goal in two matches, following a brace and an assist in Milan’s victory against Udinese on Saturday.
Milan also hit the crossbar three times.
Gimenez scored his first goal in five Coppa Italia matches. In addition, he has six goals in 16 domestic cup matches (Copa MX, KNVB Beker, Coppa Italia).
Before this goal with Milan on Tuesday, Gimenez had missed nine big chances this season in all competitions. With this goal, he broke a streak of six games without scoring with Milan in all competitions. His last goal was a brace on May 9th.Caption: Christian Pulisic scored his third goal in two games for AC Milan on Tuesday.Photo by MATTEO BAZZI/EPA/ShutterstockPreviously, Udinese beat Palermo 2-1 with goals from Nicolo Zaniolo and Lennon Miller, while Cagliari defeated Frosinone 4-1.
Udinese will face Juventus, and Cagliari will play against Napoli.
Milan and Inter Milan announced agreements on Tuesday with architecture firms Foster + Partners and Manica to design a new stadium, subject to city council approval for the sale of San Siro to the clubs.
Milan were not seeded this season due to their eighth-place finish in Serie A last season. Bologna beat Milan in the final of last season’s cup and obtained a seeding ahead of Milan despite finishing ninth in the league.
The eighth place also meant that Milan could not participate in European competitions this season. Therefore, coach Massimiliano Allegri has qualified the Italian Cup as an important goal.
Milan started the Cup with a 2-0 victory over Bari on August 17. Allegri was suspended for both Cup matches after an ugly outburst directed at the referees during the Italian Cup final as Juventus coach in 2024, which cost him his position.
After losing their first match in Serie A, the rossoneri have won three consecutive matches in the league. They are now on a run of four consecutive wins in all competitions.
Lecce is in last place in Serie A with one point in four games.
