AC Milan 5-0 Ancona
Milan swept aside bottom side Ancona to continue their charge to the top of Serie A. A two-faced match at the San Siro for the Rossoneri in front of a well-organized and close opposition. The first half registered the same poor play seen at Brescia.
Apart from the five second-half goals in which Manuel Rui Costa celebrated his first Serie A goal in three years and captain Paolo Maldini broke the league record of appearances, with 520, it was also the first time a female assistant, Cristina Cini, had taken part in a Serie A encounter. Mario Jardel also made his debut for Ancona.
Ancona held out for 62 minutes and had a good chance to open the scoring in the first half when Vincenzo Sommese skimmed the post with a low shot and then forced Dida into a full-stretch save. Milan took control in the second half and went ahead through a penalty when Andriy Shevchenko’s shot hit Roberto Maltagliati on the arm. The Ukrainian then converted coolly from the spot.
Rui Costa then had his moment to celebrate as Shevchenko pulled the ball back for the Portuguese midfielder to drive home a low shot. Jon Dahl Tomasson came on as a substitute and was immediately fouled in the area, the same player stepped up to score from the resultant penalty. Tomasson then set-up Kaka with a backheel which the Brazilian slammed into the roof of the net from close range and Kaka got his second when he skipped beyond the offside trap before finishing with a low shot into the corner.
MILAN: Dida; Cafu, Nesta, Maldini, Pancaro; Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf (75' Serginho) ; Rui Costa, Kakà; Shevchenko (75'Tomasson).
ANCONA: Marcon; Sartor, Maltagliati, Milanese, Zavagno; Sommese (69' Pandev), Andersson, D. Baggio, Berretta; Jardel (85'De Falco), Grabbi (37' Degano).
Goalscorers: 1-0, 64' Shevchenko; 2-0, 71' Rui Costa; 3-0, 78' Tomasson; 4-0, 84' Kaka; 5-0, 90' Kaka
Source: acmilan.com
