There are fast starts, and then there are fast starts.
It took just six seconds for AC Milan to lead against Sassuolo on Sunday — the quickest goal in the history of Serie A.
Rafael Leao wrote his name into the record books when Hakan Calhanoglu drove into the Sassuolo half straight from kickoff and found Leao, who cut through the opposition defense to score with precisely 6.2 seconds on the clock.
It not only beat the previous record in Italian football set by Paolo Poggi, but also became the fastest goal ever scored in Europe’s top five leagues.
AC Milan, without the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic, went on to win 2-1 thanks to a second goal from Alexis Saelemaekers midway through the first half.
Domenico Berardi’s late free-kick proved only a consolation for the home side.
The win means Milan is one point ahead of rival Inter at the top of Serie A and four clear of Serie A champion Juventus in third.
Poggi, who previously held the Serie A record when he scored after eight seconds for Piacenza in December 2001, graciously handed over his accolade to 21-year-old Leao.
“Congratulations to @RafaeLeao7 for beating, or rather, shattering, my record for the fastest goal in @SerieA after 19 years. Well done,” he wrote on Twitter.
