Milan kicked off their season with a tricky away match against Siena at the Artemio Franchi stadium. Leonardo’s team made a solid start to their Serie A campaign, earning a deserved 2-1 win thanks to a brace from starlet Alexandre Pato, with Ronaldinho playing a major role in both goals.

The first chance came at the 10-minute mark, when Pato volleyed the ball and it was deflected dangerously by Jardim Brandao for a corner kick.

The visitors were the only team creating chances in the early stages, and in the 19th minute Marek Jankulovski and Ronaldinho played a nice one-two, but when the ball came back to him the Milan defender was unable to get it past goalkeeper Gianluca Curci, who made a good save.

Three minutes later, Ronaldinho had the ball in the net with a direct free-kick, but the linesman raised his flag because Pato was in an offside position in front of Curci.

Milan deservedly opened the score in the 29th minute, when Ronaldinho played in a great ball to Pato, who slid the ball confidently past Curci with a shot from inside the area.

The Rossoneri’s lead didn’t last long, however, as just four minutes later Abdel Ghezzal fired the ball home from close range after goalkeeper Marco Storari failed to hold on to a shot by Lukas Jarolim.

Following this quick equalizer from Siena, not much happened in the remainder of the first half, which ended on a 1-1 deadlock.

During the break neither coach opted to make any changes. Just three minutes into the second half, Milan regained their lead thanks to another inspired moment by Ronaldinho, as he found Mathieu Flamini inside the area with a fine pass, and the Frenchman squared it to Pato, who bagged his brace with an easy finish.

Just before the hour mark, Siena had their first chance in a while, as Massimo Maccarone latched on to a pass from Simone Vergassola and fired a shot on goal from a diagonal position, but it went just wide.

In the 68th minute, the outstanding Ronaldinho fired an audacious overhead kick on a corner kick, forcing Curci to tip the ball over the bar.

With around 15 minutes to go, the home side started to push for an equalizer, winning a series of corners. On one of them, defender Daniele Ficagna executed a dangerous header which was tipped over the crossbar by Storari in the 77th minute.

Milan managed to control the match in the final stages, with the central defensive duo of Thiago Silva and Alessandro Nesta looking confident at all times. In the 86th minute, the Rossoneri had a chance to make it three, and Pato to get his hat-trick, as the ‘Duck’ was sent clear through on goal by Ronaldinho, but the young striker’s shot hit the side netting.

That was the last chance of the match, which ended on a deserved 2-1 score for Milan, who made a surprisingly good start, considering all the pessimism that accompanied them from their poor pre-season performances.

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SIENA Curci: 6.5- Made a great save from Jankulovski early on but was powerless to stop Pato from grabbing a brace.  

Rossettini: 5.0- Played Pato onside for Milan’s first goal of the game and never really looked comfortable at the back tonight.  

Brandao: 6.5- Made some good blocks and did a valiant job battling Borriello.

Ficagna: 6.0- Gave the ball away cheaply at times in the early going and struggled with Pato’s pace. Was nowhere to be found for Pato's second goal of the match.

Del Grosso: 6.0- Pushed forward on a couple of occasions but more often than not the final product was lacking. 

Codrea: 5.5- Sat in front of the back four in order to protect them but failed to neutralize the threat of Ronaldinho and was replaced early in the second half.  

Vergassola: 6.0- The Siena captain gave possession away a little too easily and was rendered ineffective after his booking in the first half.  

Jarolim: 7.0- Made a good run into the box and must have been as surprised as anyone that his innocuous shot was parried straight into Ghezzal’s path. Siena’s most dangerous player on the night.  

Fini: 6.0- The former Cagliari man spotted Jarolim in the penalty area in the move that led to Ghezzal’s goal.  

Ghezzal: 7.0- Was jogging on the spot to smash the ball home in the 35th minute but faded away after that.  

Maccarone: 6.0- Starved of service for long stretches of the match but missed a glorious opportunity to level the scores in the second half when he blasted his shot wide of the mark.  

SUBS: Ekdal (52”) 6.0, Paolucci (52”) 6.0, Reginaldo (79”) NA    

AC MILAN  

Storari: 6.0- With Dida and Abbiati both injured, the well-traveled keeper was handed a starting nod and should have done better on Ghezzal’s goal.  

Zambrotta: 6.0- Struggled to get into the match and was beaten to the by-line on a couple of occasions. Not a vintage performance by the Italy right-back by any means  

Nesta: 6.5- Showed little signs of rust tonight although his poor clearance led to Siena’s equalizer in the first half. Nevertheless, Serie A is all the better for having him back.  

Thiago Silva: 7.0- Made his official Serie A debut after signing for the club in the winter transfer window and was cool as a cucumber at the back. An impressive bow from the Brazilian defender.  

Jankulovski: 7.0- The experienced left-back was extremely dangerous going forward and had a glorious chance to open the scoring in the 19th minute but was foiled by Curci. He spent a huge chunk of the evening in Siena’s half of the field.  

Flamini: 7.0- Put in an admirable shift on the left flank and it was his delightful pass that set up Pato for his second goal of the evening.  

Pirlo: 6.5- The sleepy-eyed, deep-lying playmaker pulled the strings in midfield this evening although his set-piece deliveries were a little poor by his lofty standards.  

Gattuso: 5.0- The Calabrese pitbull lacked some of his usual bite in midfield and it looks as if his best days may be behind him.  

Ronaldinho: 8.0- Showed flashes of his old brilliance as he was handed a trequartista role tonight and his vision carved open the Siena defense on more than one occasion. He presented Jankulovski with a golden opportunity early on before directly setting up Pato for the first goal of the match and it was his decisive diagonal pass to Flamini that set up Pato’s game winner. An inspired performance.  

Pato: 8.0- The Brazilian starlet was a danger all evening long and opened the scoring with a cool finish after being played through by Ronaldinho. Netted the game winner by tapping home a pass from Flamini to complete his brace. This dominating performance shows just why Carlo Ancelotti is desperate to take him to Stamford Bridge.  

Borriello: 6.5- Caught offside four times tonight but played a part in both goals.  

SUBS: Ambrosini (60”) 6.0