Benfica kick off league phase campaign by downing Amorim's Milan away

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ac-milan/8Sa8HInO/"]Milan[/a] have enjoyed a positive start to the season, with Ruben Amorim’s men unbeaten in their last four outings in all competitions, but they faced a tough challenge against a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/benfica/zBkyuyRI/"]Benfica[/a] side that had lost just one of their 12 competitive games (W9, D2) this term.[/p][p][b]Here, it was the Eagles who got off to the better start, taking the lead around the quarter-hour mark. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lukebakio-dodi/08a9jhm9/"]Dodi Lukebakio[/a] collected the ball on the right flank and dribbled inside before curling a pinpoint shot into the bottom corner.[/b][/p][embed guid="3773b402-ca6e-40ca-b6d6-13dc82d1b1bb" url="https://x.com/slbenfica_en/status/2100305477309518249" social-type="twitter" /][p]Buoyed by the opener, Benfica’s momentum grew, and they went close to netting a second when only the woodwork denied [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sudakov-heorhii/vT9ev7SJ/"]Georgiy Sudakov[/a]’s low drive from 25 yards out.[/p][p]Milan, meanwhile, struggled to gain a foothold in the contest, going into the break knowing they needed to drastically improve.[/p][p]Recent history, though, suggested they had a good chance of finding the back of the net themselves; seven of their previous 10 games in Europe saw both teams score, while 10 of their last 12 competitive goals had come beyond the hour mark. [/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="3074400a-98ee-4eb4-8909-6ac47209ebd9" credit-line="Flashscore" hidden-attrs="alt, credit" guid="cc2eddec-e768-49dc-bb13-b1f99ff2b991" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]Amorim, who played for Benfica as a player, turned to his bench ahead of the restart, introducing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gila-mario/dQqXDhtf/"]Mario Gila[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pulisic-christian/vTuaEfRq/"]Christian Pulisic[/a]. As a result, there was an immediate upturn in Milan’s attacking output, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-winter-koni/EFmPm0Qo/"]Koni De Winter[/a] firing a glorious opportunity over the crossbar from inside the area.[/p][p][b]Nevertheless, Benfica stunted their opponents' attempt to build momentum and doubled their lead in emphatic fashion when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kaminski-jakub/hbhnybaa/"]Jakub Kaminski[/a] powered [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/el-karouani-souffian/2a6uUHNC/"]Souffian El Karouani[/a]’s cross into the roof of the net.[/b][/p][p]The Rossoneri poured forward in response, throwing caution to the wind as Pulisic was denied by a strong hand from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/trubin-anatolii/QqMFk0jg/"]Anatoliy Trubin[/a] at his near post.[/p][p]On the whole, though, Marco Silva’s men produced a solid defensive display, restricting the home side to half-chances on a frustrating night for the home side.[/p][image alt="Momentum" id="82c1917a-b6b6-42f6-aaaf-3b4659fe4be6" credit-line="Flashscore" hidden-attrs="alt, credit" guid="2512445b-df1c-4c78-b92c-99d98ce3fd78" original-width="3840" original-height="2160" /][p]A first competitive defeat will leave Amorim frustrated as he lost to Benfica for just the second time in seven meetings in the dugout. Meanwhile, Silva will be hoping this is a sign of things to come as his side go in search of a maiden Europa League triumph.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/el-karouani-souffian/2a6uUHNC/"]Souffian El Karouani[/a] (Benfica)[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ac-milan-8Sa8HInO/benfica-zBkyuyRI/?mid=Cz7KmSDF"]Catch up on all the match stats with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p][infobox id="c134a416-a81e-4aa8-9dc0-5a1a0f9322e0" /]