AC Milan vs. Lille score: Yusuf Yazici catches fire with hat-trick to shake up Europa League Group H
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Lille are top of Europa League Group H after a sensational 3-0 win away at AC Milan on Thursday thanks to another Yusuf Yazici hat-trick.
The 23-year-old, who scored three times in the 4-1 victory over Sparta Prague in the opening round of fixtures for LOSC’s first ever European treble, was in unstoppable form again with three goals inside of 40 minutes at San Siro.
Yazici opened the scoring for Lille after 21 minutes with a penalty after Alessio Romagnoli was punished for pushing the former Trabzonspor man.
The €17.5 million signing from the summer of 2019 made no mistake from the spot up against Gianluigi Donnarumma and Les Dogues made it to half-time without a Milan response.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic tried his best to level things up but found former Paris Saint-Germain teammate Mike Maignan in solid form to deny him.
Lille needed just 10 minutes at the start of the second half to double their lead as Yazici’s shot deceived Donnarumma and two became three just three minutes later as goalless summer signing Jonathan David opened up the Milan defence to tee Yazici up to complete his hat-trick.
That the Turk’s second three-goal haul in three Europa League matches and the latest chapter in the No. 12’s rebirth after a serious knee injury threatened to end his Stade Pierre Mauroy spell before it truly began.
Lille’s win puts them top of Group H with seven points from a possible nine, ahead of Milan and Sparta after they thumped Celtic 4-1 way.
Although Yazici will dominate the headlines, David’s performance was unselfish, and Renato Sanches served up another reminder of his restored reputation after difficult spells with Bayern Munich and out on loan.
Yazici’s hat-trick is the first Milan have conceded at home in any competition since Barcelona’s Rivaldo in 2000 and the first time ever that they have lost by three goals at San Siro, not to mention their first loss since March — ending a 24-year run of 24 matches across all competitions without defeat.