Milan defeat Perugia and go through to 4th round of the TIM Cup.

(IN THE PHOTO: Luiz Adriano celebrates his goal)  

MILAN –  First half goals from Keisuke Honda and Luiz Adriano helped Milan to a 2-0 victory over Perugia on Monday night at the San Siro and send the rossoneri through to the fourth round of the Coppa Italia (TIM Cup) where they will face Crotone.

Sinisa Mihajlovic, taking charge of his first official match on the Milan bench, fielded a strong line-up as promised during his pre-match press conference which included new strike pairing Luiz Adriano and Carlos Bacca.

However, it was an old head that took centre stage in the early proceedings and on 10 minutes Honda broke the deadlock with a left foot strike. Just like last season in Milan-Lazio, Honda netted the first goal of the competitive season for the rossoneri.

The Milan no. 10 then turned provider just before the half hour mark playing through Luiz Adriano who marked his official Milan debut with a goal. Bacca thought he had made it 3-0 moments before the first half whistle, only to see his strike ruled out for offside.

After the break, Milan went in search of a third goal and De Sciglio immediately went close forcing the Perugia shot-stopper into an excellent save. Any hopes of the visitors getting back into the game meanwhile were dashed on 64 minutes when Lanzafame was given his marching orders for a second yellow card.

With an extra man, the rossoneri continued to dominate possession and dictate the play, finishing the game strongly only to find an in-form Rosati in the way of Milan opening up a three goal cushion.

This is how the two teams lined-up at the start of the match:

MILAN: Diego Lopez; De Sciglio, Ely, Romagnoli, Antonelli; Bertolacci, De Jong, Bonaventura; Honda; Luiz Adriano, Bacca. Subs: Abbiati, Donnarumma, Abate, Alex, Paletta, Jose Mauri, Montolivo, Nocerino, Poli, Suso, Cerci, Matri, Menez. Coach: Sinisa Mihajlovic.

PERUGIA: Rosati; Del Prete, Volta, Mancini, Rossi; Rizzo, Salifu; Fabinho, Di Carmine, Lanzafame; Ardemagni. Subs: Zima, Comotto, Alhassan, Rizzo, Taddei, Spinazzola, Gomes Ribeiro, Boscolo, Mendez, Zapata. Coach: Pierpaolo Bisoli.