Ante Rebic provided assists for both Rafael Leao and returning hero Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as Milan beat Lazio despite Franck Kessie missing a penalty, maintaining their perfect start.
This was a top of the table showdown between two teams who won their opening games with plenty of goals and will be challenging for the Scudetto this season. Franck Kessie was back in the starting XI, Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the bench for the first time after four months, but Olivier Giroud unavailable after a spell out with COVID. The Aquile had Manuel Lazzari only ready for the bench.
Fikayo Tomori nodded a Rafael Leao cross over the bar, then Mike Maignan had to make an acrobatic save, as the Sergej Milinkovic-Savic attempt was looping over him.
Davide Calabria fired wide from an Ante Rebic assist and Alessio Romagnoli prevented Ciro Immobile meeting a pull-back from 12 yards.
Milan took the lead right on the stroke of half-time. Leao had been impressive all game and he burst forward from midfield, rode a tackle, completed the give-and-go with Rebic to sweep in with the inside of the right boot from 12 yards.
Deep into stoppages, Immobile miss-timed his attempted clearance on Kessie after a corner and kicked the Ivorian in the back of the leg. After a VAR review, the penalty was awarded, but Kessie stepped up and hit his spot-kick against the crossbar.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his comeback on the hour mark, having missed Sweden’s UEFA EURO 2020 campaign due to knee surgery, and created a chance with his first touch on a Theo Hernandez assist.
Within seven minutes of his introduction, Ibra had scored to double Milan’s lead. The Swede will rarely get an easier finish, tapping in undisturbed from six yards, but he timed his run well to get away from defenders and stay onside as Rebic rolled across from the left, the Croatian’s second assist.
Tiemoue Bakayoko also made his comeback for Milan, but it was less eventful, as he risked a straight red on Francesco Acerbi and then went off injured.
Ciro Immobile tested Maignan, but Lazio seemed toothless in the second half, even with the debuts of Mattia Zaccagni and Toma Basic.
There was tension at the final whistle between Ibrahimovic and Lucas Leiva, with Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri shown a red card for his angry reaction to Alexis Saelemaekers showboating in stoppages.
Milan 2-0 Lazio
Leao 45 (M), Ibrahimovic 67 (M)
Missed penalty: Kessie 45+5 (M)