Luka Modrić opened his Serie A account at the age of 40 as AC Milan edged past Bologna 1-0 at San Siro on Sunday.
The Rossoneri dominated the first half, twice rattling the woodwork through Pervis Estupiñán and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, but they had to wait until the hour mark for the breakthrough.
Modrić timed his run perfectly onto an Alexis Saelemaekers delivery and calmly guided the ball beyond Lukasz Skorupski to send the home crowd into raptures.
The night almost became even more memorable when Christopher Nkunku, making his Milan debut, appeared to have won a penalty seconds after coming on. However, VAR overturned the referee’s initial decision, ruling that Remo Freuler’s contact was insufficient.
The call infuriated Milan supporters and staff alike, with head coach Massimiliano Allegri dismissed to the stands after a furious outburst.
The clash carried plenty of intrigue beyond Modrić’s strike, with several new faces on display.
Adrien Rabiot completed the full match in an advanced midfield role for Milan, while Jonathan Rowe, his former Marseille teammate with whom he once clashed in training, came off the bench for Bologna.
Christian Pulisic also made an impact from the bench, replacing Loftus-Cheek just after the hour and immediately injecting pace and creativity into Milan’s attack.
Nkunku, another ex-Chelsea player, entered late on for Santiago Jimenez and thought he had marked his debut in dramatic fashion before VAR intervened.
Allegri’s temper boiled over after the controversy, resulting in his ejection. The Italian will now be absent from the technical area when Milan travel to Udinese next weekend.
