AC Milan thump Alessandria 6-0 on aggregate to reach Coppa Italia final

AC Milan ended the cup dreams of Alessandira as they thrashed the third-tier side 5-0 to make the Coppa Italia final on Tuesday.

The Rossoneri held a 1-0 advantage from the first leg thanks to a Mario Balotelli penalty, but the hosts outclassed their lowly opponents with a 6-0 aggregate victory to reach their first Coppa Italia final since 2003.

Starting in his first game since August 2015, Jeremy Menez netted twice in the first half to end an 11-month goal drought, and got AC Milan off the ground in the 20th minute.

He collected a pass in the middle of the area, and struck low past Alessandria goalkeeper Gianmarco Vannucchi to put the Rossoneri ahead.

Alessio Romagnoli doubled the lead just four minutes later, Juraj Kucka heading the ball into his path from a corner and the defender tapped home from close range. 

Menez struck his second six minutes before the break, hitting home from Andrea Poli's delivery and leaving Vannucchi in his wake.

Alessandria managed to keep AC Milan at bay for much of the second half, and even thought they had nicked a goal back but Mattia De Sciglio produced a brilliant clearance to deny the third tier outfit a semi-final strike.

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Indeed, things got worse for Alessandria when Roberto Sabato deflected in a shot from Romagnoli's back post header in a near carbon copy of the defender's first goal.

Liverpool loanee Balotelli wrapped up the rout in the 89th minute with a fine strike, collecting Keisuke Honda's ball and surging towards goal to fire home through the legs of Vannucchi.

AC Milan will find out their Coppa Italia final opponents tomorrow as Inter host Juventus - but Roberto Mancini's side trail the current champions 3-0 from the first leg.

Watch Inter v Juventus live on Sky Sports 2 HD on Wednesday evening from 7.40pm.