Serie A: AC Milan 5-2 Genoa

The Italian top flight returned from its winter break today and all American and English eyes were on San Siro, where one David Beckham was selected by Leonardo in AC Milan's starting line-up for a challenging clash against Gian Piero Gasperini's Genoa.

Another set of eyes on the former England captain this evening was the pair embedded in the sockets of one Fabio Capello, running the rule over one of his likely substitutes for England's World Cup 2010 campaign in South Africa.

He put in a very comfortable performance as Milan, led by the vibrant Marco Borriello and an in-form Massimo Ambrosini came from behind to put Genoa to the sword.

It took Beckham, playing very high up the pitch on the right hand side of an attacking trio, just three minutes to make his mark, picking up a loose clearance from the Genoa goalkeeper and bending in a lovely cross from which Borriello should have opened the scoring.

Milan had another chance to go ahead in the 13th minute thanks to a brilliant move ruined by a dive. Luca Antonini and Ronaldinho exchanged passes from a throw-in, before Antonini found Ambrosini racing into the box. The midfielder skinned his marker with a superbly executed drop of the shoulder but sadly chose to hit the deck under the slightest of tackles when a simple finish beckoned. Justice was done when Marco Amelia easily held Ronaldinho's awful penalty.

Milan paid the price in the 25th minute. Genoa progressed smartly down the right wing, and former Boca Juniors man Rodrigo Palacio crossed for Guiseppe Sculli, who nodded home easily with his marker in no man's land.

A second Milan penalty soon arrived after a lovely move of which Beckham was the focus. After a quick one-two he found Borriello with a superb pass into the area. Ambrosini was brought down this time, Amelia picking up a yellow card for his efforts before watching Ronaldinho smash the spot kick into the bottom corner.

Milan took a deserved lead in the 38th minute, finally rounding off a dramatic scramble. A free kick found Alessandro Nesta, whose cross was headed back into the danger zone and eventually fell to Thiago Silva, who tucked the ball home to make it 2-1.

It was an impressive first half performance by the Rossoneri but for all their dominance, they still appeared susceptible to some of Genoa's better attacks and the 2-1 half time lead was unnecessarily precarious.

But just two minutes into the second half, it was 3-1. Marco Borriello was the latest to benefit, turning in a cut-back from Antonini after Ronaldinho had found the number 77 in acres of space in the box. The Milan striker made it four on the hour mark after a quiet ten minutes, exploiting a very slight offside position to hit a bicycle kick against the ground and past Amelia from nine yards.

Genoa continued to chase a goal and came close in the 70th minute with Domenico Criscito's crisp drive just sneaking over the angle of Dida's goal. At the other end, a mistake from the same man presented Gennaro Gattuso with a golden opportunity to net Milan's fifth, but Amelia was out quickly to save at his feet.

And two minutes later, the Rossoneri had yet another penalty. Again, this one was an easy decision, Marco Rossi downing Ronaldinho as he squirmed through on goal. Dutch substitute Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was handed the ball by Beckham and Ronaldinho, and made no mistake in smashing the ball into the top corner.

David Suazo pounced on a mistake and stayed on his feet after being clipped to strike a lovely shot beyond Dida from 20 yards to make it 5-2, but the match was already out of Genoa's reach.

Genoa are no mugs, and Milan just didn't give them a sniff in the second half. With Internazionale and Juventus winning earlier in the day, three points were vital for second-placed Milan this evening. They bagged them in style - and people say Italian football is boring.