AC Milan left the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino with three points on the opening weekend of the Serie A season, defeating home side Torino 1-2 through a ten-minute burst in the second half that the Granata never recovered from — and only partially answered in stoppage time.
The match turned between the 64th and 66th minutes, a window so compressed it barely registered before the damage was done. AC Milan forward Alphadjo Cissè, rated the highest performer on the pitch at 7.9, broke the deadlock at 64 minutes with Adrien Rabiot providing the assist. Cissè was then withdrawn immediately — he was off the field within two minutes of scoring, replaced by Alexis Saelemaekers in a double substitution that also brought Davide Bartesaghi on for Pervis Estupiñán. The reason for such a swift removal is not stated in the available record, but the timing is notable. What followed was more consequential still: at 66 minutes, Rabiot — himself introduced from the bench just ten minutes earlier — turned provider into scorer, finishing with an assist from AC Milan winger Samuel Chukwueze to make it 2-0. Two goals in two minutes, both involving Rabiot, and the match was effectively settled.
Rabiot's contribution demands closer attention. The midfielder entered at the 56th minute as part of a double substitution alongside Luka Modrić, replacing Ardon Jashari and the yellow-carded Ruben Loftus-Cheek. In 34 minutes of action, Rabiot registered a goal, an assist, and a rating of 7.5 — a return that shaped the entire result. Chukwueze, who assisted the second goal and played the full 90 minutes, earned a 7.7 rating, as did AC Milan defender Koni De Winter and centre-back Mario Gila. Ruben Marques Diogo Amorim's Milan arrived at this fixture with no prior Serie A data this season, and left it with maximum points and a positive goal difference — built almost entirely on what their substitutes produced in a quarter-hour.
Ignazio Abate's Torino were not without resource. Kian Fitz-Jim and Gvidas Gineitis both played the full 90 minutes and rated 6.9 and 6.7 respectively, while Marcus Pedersen earned a 7.0 — the highest Torino rating — before being substituted at 70 minutes. The Granata's triple substitution at that point, bringing on Niccolò Fortini, Alieu Njie, and Che Adams, was a clear attempt to find a way back into the match. Adams did eventually score, converting in the 90th minute with a Gineitis assist to make it 1-2, but the goal arrived too late to threaten the result. Torino's first half — for which no goals or significant events appear in the record — left them needing to chase a game that Milan had already decided to control through their bench.
Both teams entered this fixture with one competitive result apiece in the current season. Torino had beaten Carrarese in the Coppa Italia before this defeat; Milan's only prior match was this one. The head-to-head record across the two most recent meetings between these sides reads: two Milan wins, zero Torino wins, zero draws. That pattern held. Torino's form across their last two matches — one win, one loss — reflects a squad still finding its competitive register; the defeat here opens the league campaign with a deficit that will need addressing quickly.
A month from now, this match will be remembered as the afternoon Adrien Rabiot came off the bench and, in the space of ten minutes, made himself the decisive figure in AC Milan's season opener.