A ruthless AC Milan showed no mercy on Perth Glory as they rounded out their trip to Perth by thumping the A-League side 9-0 in front of 19,226 spectators at HBF Park.
Superstar Rafael Leao came off the bench to score twice as Milan put on a show for both locals and those who had travelled to watch their heroes in action.
The Serie A giants came out the blocks quickly, with Samuel Chukwueze looking lively on the right wing. They opened the scoring after just three minutes as Filippo Terracciano latched onto a pass from Noah Okafor and fired low past Mark Birighitti.
Glory came close to finding an equaliser minutes later when a low cross from Arion Sulemani just evaded both Khoa Ngo and Adam Taggart in the six-yard area.
After a brief lull, it was 2-0 and this time Okafor was on target. Alex Jimenez glided past a number of Glory players before selflessly squaring the ball to the Swiss international who tapped home.
Jimenez was at it again just moments later, beating Risdon and putting in a low cross that was only partially cleared. Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s follow up was partially blocked and the ball fell kindly to Okafor for a two-yard finish.
Things got even worse for Glory when Brian Kaltek fouled Christian Comotto in the box and the Italian picked himself up to score the resulting spot kick with a cheeky Panenka down the middle.
The Milan fans behind the goal had barely finished celebrating when Chukwueze cut inside and hammered the ball past Birighitti for 5-0.
Thankfully for fans of the Perth side, they did manage to stem the tide until the interval.
Milan changed their entire team for the second half but it was more of the same as Rafael Leao raced through on goal and finished low into the bottom corner, just 15 seconds after the restart.
Samuele Ricci was next to get in on the act as he hammered home from the edge of the area following some neat build up play and a pass from Alexis Saelemaekers.
Glory had a huge chance to restore some pride on 68 minutes as substitute Adam Bugarija released Risdon. He found Joel Anasmo but the winger spooned his effort off target.
Nathaniel Blair toiled hard up front following his introduction and almost capitalised on some slack defending but with the goal at his mercy, the striker couldn’t find a way past Pietro Terracciano.
Almost immediately at the other end, Yunus Musah got Milan’s eighth goal as his lashed the ball past Sail from a very tight angle.
There was still time for Leao to get his second of the game and round out the scoring as he rose high at the back post to place a header perfectly over the flailing Glory goalkeeper.
Milan head home to Europe on the back of a win over Liverpool in Hong Kong and this dominant showing against Glory. They next face Leeds United in Ireland in just over a week.
For Perth Glory, it’s back to preseason training having exited the Australia Cup last weekend. The 2025/26 A-League season kicks off in mid-October.
AC Milan: 16. Mike MAIGNAN, 2. Pervis ESTUPINAN, 8. Ruben LOFTUS-CHEEK, 17. Noah OKAFOR, 20. Alex JIMENEZ, 21. Samuel CHUKWUEZE, 24. Filippo TERRACCIANO, 31. Strahinja PAVLOVIC, 34. Christian COMOTTO, 28. Warren BONDO, 46. Matteo GABBIA.
1. Pietro TERRACCIANO, 4. Samuele RICCI, 10. Rafael LEAO, 19. Youssouf FOFANA, 23. Fikayo TOMORI, 28. Malick THIAW, 33. Davide BARTESAGHI, 35. Matteo DUTU, 37. Matteo PITTARELLA, 56. Alexis SAELEMAEKERS, 80. Yunis MUSAH, 91. Mattia LIBERALI, 96. Lorenzo TORRIANI.
Perth Glory: 23. Mark BIRIGHITTI, 3. Sam SUTTON, 4. Scott WOOTON, 8. Callum TIMMINS, 12. Taras GOMULKA, 17. Arion SULEMANI, 19. Joshua RISDON, 20. Trent OSTLER, 22. Adam TAGGART, 26. Khoa NGO, 45. Brian KALTAK.
Subs: 1. Oliver SAIL, 6. Brandon O’NEILL, 11. Lachlan WALES, 14. Nathaniel BLAIR, 16. Adam BUGARIJA, 24. Andriano LEBIB, 25. Sebastian DESPOTOVSKI, 27. William FRENEY, 28. Kaelan MAJEKODUNMI, 30. Tadiawanashe KUZAMBA, 31. Joel ANASMO, 32. Alfie KNIGHT, 33. Max ARGENT.
