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- Divock Origi scored his first goal for Milan
- Substitute Rafael Leão sealed the game after Filippo Ranocchia had pulled one back for Monza
MILAN: A first-half brace from Brahim Díaz helped AC Milan to a 4-1 win over Monza in Serie A, making it an unhappy return to San Siro for former Rossoneri CEO Adriano Galliani on Saturday.
Divock Origi scored his first goal for Milan and substitute Rafael Leão sealed the game after Filippo Ranocchia had pulled one back for Monza.
The only negative note for Milan was the sight of Díaz limping off early in the second half clutching his left thigh. He received a standing ovation and Milan will hope his injury is not too serious, with their two final matches in the Champions League group stage coming up over the next two weeks.
Milan moved level with Serie A leader Napoli ahead of the southern club’s match against Roma on Sunday.
Monza, which had won three of their last four league matches, remained five points above the relegation zone.
Much of the focus before the match had been on the return of Silvio Berlusconi and Galliani to the club they led to 29 trophies in 31 years.
Berlusconi bought Monza in 2018 and installed Galliani as CEO — reuniting the duo that found success at Milan until Berlusconi sold the Rossoneri in 2017.
The former Italian premier was not seen at San Siro but the television cameras were on Galliani, who — as promised — managed to contain his emotions during the match.
He was visibly moved before kickoff, however, looking around his old home and hugging everyone on the touchline, including former Milan player and current director Paolo Maldini.
Milan took the lead in the 16th minute in stunning fashion as Díaz collected a goal kick in the center circle and burst downfield, past several defenders before slotting across into the bottom right corner.
The Spain midfielder doubled his tally four minutes from halftime as Origi rolled the ball across from the right and Díaz turned his marker before firing an angled drive into the far bottom corner.
Origi got on the scoresheet himself in the 65th as he gathered the ball from Junior Messias and smashed it into the top right corner.
Ranocchia got his side back into the match five minutes later with a superb free kick into the right side of the net but Leão restored Milan’s three-goal advantage with six minutes remaining.
Inter Milan played at bitter rival Fiorentina later. A win would send the Nerazzurri level with fifth-place Lazio, five points behind Napoli.