Teenage Star Alphadjo Cisse Nets Stunning Hat-Trick as Milan Rout Salzburg 4-0 in Europa League

AC Milan's European campaign is back on track, and it has a 19-year-old to thank. Alphadjo Cisse scored all three of his goals inside the opening 49 minutes as the Italian giants swept RB Salzburg aside 4-0 in Austria on Thursday, bouncing back from their opening-round home defeat to Benfica in style.

Cisse's treble is the first by a Milan player in a continental fixture since Filippo Inzaghi managed the feat 24 years ago, and it makes the teenager the youngest Italian to score a hat-trick in European club competition. Milan coach Ruben Amorim, who has handed the youngster regular minutes this season, said the forward had earned every one of them through his performances, praising his explosiveness and heart while noting there was still room to grow in training and in matches.

The victory was emphatic even though Milan finished with 10 men after Filippo Terracciano was shown a straight red card late on for a professional foul. Elsewhere on a busy Thursday of Europa League action, Bayer Leverkusen made it two wins from two with a 4-0 thrashing of Lech Poznan in Poland, helped by two Patrik Schick penalties, while Bournemouth celebrated their first-ever home European tie with a comfortable 3-0 win over Sturm Graz.