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It was a dream Serie A debut for Mexican striker Santiago Gimenez, who scored his first-ever goal with AC Milan in his first game with the Rossoneri after the Italian giants signed him from Feyenoord during the winter transfer window for around €35 million. In the game won 2-0 against Empoli away, U.S. men's national team winger Christian Pulisic started from the bench but then delivered two assists after coming in at the beginning of the second half, marking a new connection between the American and Mexican internationals. 

AC Milan manager Sergio Conceicao decided to bench Pulisic at the beginning of the Empoli game as the Portuguese coach wanted to rest the American international ahead of the Champions League's playoff this week against Feyenoord, which will take place on Wednesday. However, after a disappointing first half, Conceicao decided to immediately replace three players at halftime, and both Pulisic and Rafael Leao started the second part of the game. 

It was this duo that delivered the first goal of the match at the Castellani stadium in Empoli, while a few minutes later Gimenez scored the final goal, becoming the first-ever Mexican scoring for the Rossoneri in the history of the Italian Serie A. 

Both sides played most of the second half with 10 men as AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori received a second yellow card at minute 55 before Empoli's Luca Marianucci received a red card and left the pitch three minutes before Leao's opener. 

After the 1-1 draw in the Derby della Madonnina against Inter and the 3-1 win against AS Roma in the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia, AC Milan started a new era after the end of the transfer window with some new faces in their roster, and the new connection between Pulisic and Gimenez, in a short cameo, has given them reasons to be excited.