On Monday, AC Milan secured three points at the beginning of the Serie A season. The fourth-placed team from last season defeated Bologna. Tijjani Reijnders registered an assist in his debut in Italy.
At the beginning of the season, Coach Stefano Pioli reserved a starting spot for Reijnders. The midfielder, who came from AZ, made a good impression during the preparation and earned his place.
Other newcomers like Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic also began in the starting lineup. The revamped Milan had a strong start, thanks to Reijnders. The midfielder played the ball back after a cross from Pulisic and witnessed Olivier Giroud opening the scoring.
Milan was efficient against Bologna, where Sam Beukema and Joshua Zirkzee were in the starting lineup. Sydney van Hooijdonk was on the bench. He watched the visitors extend their lead midway through the first half. Pulisic initiated a move and combined with Giroud. The American received the ball back and successfully struck it into the far corner: 0-2. Giroud missed the opportunity to make it 0-3 shortly after, but Milan was in a comfortable position.
Bologna made some changes at halftime and performed better in the second half. Milan had fewer chances and was pushed back more frequently. However, the home team failed to score. The best chance came for Dan Ndoye, who hit the post. On the other side, Reijnders was stopped by goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski, preventing the score from becoming 0-3 once again. Van Hooijdonk came on as a substitute for Bologna but couldn't alter the score anymore.
