AC Milan moved to the top of the Serie A table for the time being when they beat Lecce 3-0 at the San Siro thanks to three goals in five minutes of the first half.

It was a cautious and difficult opening to the game for Milan as Luca Gotti’s side were compact and looked rather dangerous on the counter-attack, but Alvaro Morata’s header from a free-kick got the ball rolling and sparked a collapse.

Theo Hernandez hammered a close-range shot onto the near post after Rafael Leao’s advance, and Christian Pulisic pounced on a rebound in the box to score the third goal, sealing the half-time mark.

Opportunities to do further damage were missed, while Davide Bartesaghi received a harsh late red card for what was described as a runaway tackle, but in front of over 70,000 home fans it was a job well done that puts the Rossoneri at the top ahead of the rest of the games.

Paulo Fonseca chose the name an unchanged starting lineup from the team that started from the first minute against Inter, meaning Alvaro Morata overcame doubts about his condition and passed a late fitness test to earn the nod when a place on the bench seemed more likely.

It was a lively start to the game with both sides looking to win the ball and play quickly through the thirds. Patrick Dorgu – probably highly valued by Geoffrey Moncada and the Milan management – ​​​​fired the first shot from 20 meters away with his left foot high and wide.

The away team continued to have some enjoyment from a rather sloppy opening to the game on Milan’s left, and Mike Maignan had to be alert to fire a low shot from Krstovic, which had taken a slight deflection, wide.

Milan started to establish possession dominance, but the chances didn’t come straight away. The closest they came in the first quarter of the game was a header from Tammy Abraham, which was cleared off the line after a recycled corner, even though the whistle had been blown anyway for a foul on Falcone.

Not long after that chance, a heart attack occurred when Fikayo Tomori fell to the ground and required treatment after falling awkwardly following a challenge. Luckily he was able to continue.

The Rossoneri showed their quality in transition when, following a Lecce attack, Morata delivered a pass to Rafael Leao, who ran through the middle and pushed the ball to Abraham, but the Englishman’s cross was calmly placed into the hands of Falcone, to keep him out a simple tap at the back post.

After the derby was won with a free kick on Sunday evening, it took another set piece from distance in the 38th minute to score. Leao converted the ball with a run that was stopped just outside the penalty area and Theo’s great shot towards the near post was deflected off the crossbar by Morata from just a few meters away.

Just two minutes later the lead was doubled and Theo was involved again, this time from provider to goalscorer. A simply exquisite through ball from Leao was directed perfectly around the defense and well stopped by the French full-back, who hammered a shot into the net to make the final score 2-0.

Lecce’s five-minute capitulation was complete when they conceded a third goal in rather comical circumstances. Milan won the ball back deep in their own half and Abraham fired a shot off the post, but the ball remained in play, he was able to parry a shot and eventually Pulisic was there to deny the rebound from close range.

It could have been four just before half-time and again it was a run from Theo over the shoulder of the last defender that caused problems, although this time he fired his shot into the side netting from a similar position to his goal.

Bursitis left Morata in doubt as to whether he would start the game and ten minutes into the second half his running was ended as he made way for Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

Milan, despite taking a commanding lead, still looked like the team to score in the next game and both Tijjani Reijnders and Leao should have done much better with their shots before the hour mark, but both sat back and left theirs Efforts to shoot over the goal.

It should have been 4-0 just before the 60th minute when another run down the baseline and a cut-back was cleared halfway to Loftus-Cheek, who somehow directed his shot from the penalty spot straight into Leao’s path and himself couldn’t shoot it into the goal from even closer range.

There was a double substitution for Milan in the 63rd minute when Fofana and Pulisic were substituted – presumably with a view to the Champions League game against Bayer Leverkusen next Tuesday – and Yunus Musah and Samuel Chukwueze came on.

Milan were inches away from extending their lead further and that would have happened in bizarre circumstances, considering Loftus-Cheek appeared to make a failed attempt when attempting to deflect a cross at the far post and the cross failed at the crossbar.

Banda hit the post at the other end, Maignan was beaten by a low shot as Lecce tried to restore some pride despite the flag going up in the build-up for what appeared to be an offside position.

15 minutes before the end there were two more changes for Milan: Theo Hernandez and Abraham went out, Davide Bartesaghi and Luka Jovic came in.

However, Bartesaghi got off to a nightmarish start as he was sent off after just four minutes for a tackle on Banda, where he appeared to catch him with the follow-up move, but that was far from reckless and his studs were not placed either. However, the VAR did not intervene to get the referee to take another look.

There was still time for one final performance from Leao as he made a brilliant move to break between two defenders before dribbling 50 yards and firing a shot which Falcone parried well.