Teenager Alphadjo Cisse became the youngest Italian to score a hat-trick in European club competition as he helped AC Milan to a thumping 4-0 victory over Austrian hosts RB Salzburg in the Europa League on Thursday.
Cisse’s treble is also the first by a Milan player in a continental fixture since Filippo Inzaghi 24 years ago as the Italians overcame an opening-round home loss to Benfica to claim an emphatic away win, despite finishing the game with 10 men.
The 19-year-old scored all his goals inside 49 minutes to underline the faith shown in him by coach Ruben Amorim.
“He owes me nothing,” Amorim said. “He deserves the playing time he’s getting because of what he’s doing. He knows how to be explosive. He has a lot of heart, but he can still improve in training and in matches.
“Tonight he deserves all the praise, but there are things he needs to work on, and he has enormous potential.”
Milan lost Filippo Terracciano to a straight red card late in the game for a professional foul.
Bayer Leverkusen made it two wins from two as they thumped Lech Poznan 4-0 in Poland with a pair of Patrik Schick penalties helping them along the way.
Olympique Lyonnais edged Crystal Palace 3-2 in a battle between two clubs who were previously both controlled by American businessman John Textor.
Both teams qualified for the competition last season, but Palace were demoted to the Conference League as a result of Textor’s shareholding, which was perhaps a blessing in disguise as they went on to win that competition.
Pavel Sulc scored Lyon’s third goal to put them 3-1 up, but Palace battled back as Daichi Kamada’s goal eight minutes from the end set up a nervous finish for the home side.
The Brazilian pair of Evanilson and Rayan were among the goals as Bournemouth eased to a 3-0 home win over Sturm Graz of Austria in their first-ever home European tie, while Sunderland came from behind to secure a 2-1 win at Portuguese side Torreense with Noah Sadiki netting the winner in the 93rd minute.
The English duo are two of 10 teams with a full haul of six points from the opening two rounds.
Benfica thumped Scottish side Celtic 4-1 with Jhon Duran scoring a brace, while Randal Kolo Muani netted a late winner as Juventus edged Celta Vigo 2-1 in Spain to top the standings.
Olympique de Marseille’s poor start to their European campaign continued as they remain pointless following a 1-0 home loss to Olympiacos Piraeus.
In the Conference League, there were wins for AS Monaco at CSKA Sofia and a thumping 4-0 success for Brighton & Hove Albion over Lithuanian side Kauno Zalgiris, but Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam slipped to a surprise 2-1 loss at Hajduk Split.