Christian Pulisic scored as AC Milan advanced to the second round of the Coppa Italia with a 2-0 win over Bari.
The USMNT winger scored the second goal for the Rossoneri in a routine win over their Serie B opposition shortly after halftime, having hit the crossbar in the first half.
The 26-year-old received a pass from Mexico forward Santiago Gimenez and he took the ball well in his stride to calmly slot it past the helpless Michele Cerofolini.
Milan took the lead after 14 minutes when Rafael Leão headed home a pinpoint cross from Fikayo Tomori.
The solitary negative of the evening was that the Portuguese was forced off minutes later with an injury to his calf, which Massimiliano Allegri will hope is not too serious.
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Pulisic was replaced after 66 minutes by U.S. teammate Yunus Musah, at the same time as midfielders Samuele Ricci and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, which saw Luka Modric make his competitive debut for Milan following his move from Real Madrid.
The former Ballon d'Or winner joined the seven-time European champion in July after 13 seasons with Real Madrid.
Allegri who was rehired as Milan's coach after winning Serie A with the Rossoneri nearly 15 years ago, was suspended as he began serving his two-match ban for an ugly outburst directed at the officials during the 2024 Coppa Italia final when Juventus manager, an outburst that saw him fired.
Milan are usually one of the top eight seeds for the opening rounds of the Coppa Italia, handing them byes until December but the Rossoneri finished eighth in Serie A last season and lost the Coppa Italia final to Bologna.
Bologna therefore was given the top seed even though they finished ninth in Serie A, pushing Milan down into the earlier rounds.
Allegri can now prepare for his first Serie A game back as Milan boss when his side welcome Cremonese to the San Siro on Aug. 23.
Information from Associacated Press contributed to this report.