Milan opened the Ruben Amorim era with a 2-1 win away at Torino, two quick second-half goals from Alphadjo Cisse and Adrien Rabiot settling a game that had stayed goalless for over an hour.
Torino away has been an awkward trip in recent seasons, and with Inter, Napoli and Juventus all winning earlier in the round, three points on the board from the opening weekend carried weight for a side under a brand-new coach.
Amorim's first team sheet came with a few talking points. Koni De Winter, Yunus Musah, Ardon Jashari, Pervis Estupiñan and Cisse all started, while summer arrivals Mario Gila and Gonçalo Ramos were handed full debuts.
Milan looked the sharper side for most of the first half without finding a way through. They carved out the opening chance inside two minutes through a flowing move that ended with Cisse hitting the side netting from a tight angle, and the same striker was involved in a string of half-openings as the visitors pressed high.
Samuel Chukwueze was the main outlet going forward. He twisted into a shooting position after a solo run only to be denied by Mascardi, and his crossing repeatedly asked questions of the Torino back line without a clean finish arriving before the break.
The breakthrough came just after the hour, following a double change that sent on Luka Modrić and Rabiot for Jashari and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. In the 65th minute Musah found Rabiot down the right, his low cross was controlled by Cisse with his back to goal, and the teenager turned and finished inside the far post for his first Serie A goal.
It proved to be Cisse's final act, replaced moments later by Alexis Saelemaekers, and within two minutes Milan had a second. Modrić released Chukwueze on the right, and his delivery to the back post was volleyed home by Rabiot, the provider turned scorer.
The closing stages brought a scare and a setback. Njie struck the post for the hosts, and Gila was forced off with an injury after over-stretching for the ball, with Matteo Gabbia taking his place. Torino pushed for a way back and finally found one in the third minute of stoppage time, Che Adams pulling one back with an acrobatic bicycle kick.
A late consolation took a little gloss off the scoreline, but Amorim will care more about the substance: a controlled performance on a historically difficult ground, an 18-year-old scoring his first senior goal for the club, and Rabiot delivering an immediate return off the bench. On a weekend when the sides around them all won, Milan matched them from the first whistle of a new era.