Milan came from behind twice to beat Manchester United 4-2 in Poland on Saturday, with three goals in fourteen minutes turning the game on its head against Ruben Amorim's former club.
Pre-season friendlies matter for the minutes and the pecking order they hint at, and this one handed opportunities to several fringe names. Amorim made changes to his starting XI, bringing in Yunus Musah, Ardon Jashari, Alphadjo Cisse and Goncalo Ramos, and the result was a scrappy first hour before Milan pulled clear.
United led inside the first minute. Dorgu charged down the left to force an early stop from Lorenzo Torriani, and Maguire headed home from the resulting corner, a soft goal to concede with the defence failing to track one of the more dangerous aerial threats around.
Milan settled and began to look the better side despite the deficit. Jashari pressed Tielemans into a mistake and fed Ruben Loftus-Cheek, whose shot was straight at Lammens, while both Loftus-Cheek and Cisse spurned decent openings. Pervis Estupinan was booked for hauling down Diallo to stop a counter.
The equaliser came from Jashari's work again. He won the ball high and released Ramos, who slid it across for Chukwueze to tap in. The lead nearly changed hands moments later when Koni De Winter conceded a penalty, but Torriani saved Bruno Fernandes' spot kick, a strong moment for the young goalkeeper.
United restarted the second half as they had the first, and Dorgu put them back in front with a finish Torriani may feel he could have kept out. The response was immediate. Chukwueze's effort dropped to the back post, where Cisse prodded home for 2-2.
The game broke open from there. Chukwueze delivered a fine cross for Ramos to head in, repaying the assist from the first goal, and Ramos made it 3-2. Minutes later Loftus-Cheek finally got his goal, finishing at the near post on a quick counter.
Milan sat deeper after that as United pushed for a way back. Luka Modric threaded an outside-of-the-boot pass to Christian Comotto, who could not convert, and Francesco Camarda was also denied late on.
Beyond the scoreline, the run-out gave minutes to Comotto, Sankhoun Diawara, Valeri Valdimirov and Camarda, while Mario Gila returned from injury and looked solid on his way back into contention.
A first win of pre-season, then, and one built on two comebacks from two goals down. For Amorim, the takeaways are the reaction and the fitness returning to the squad, though the two goals conceded from set-piece and one-on-one situations are the details he will want tightened before the season starts.