AC Milan forward Rafael Leao scored the fastest goal in Serie A history, hitting the target after six seconds, to set the leaders on their way to a 2-1 win at Sassuolo on Sunday.

In an astonishing start, Hakan Calhanoglu collected the ball straight from the kick-off and opened up the Sassuolo defence with an incisive pass to Leao and the Portuguese beat goalkeeper Andrea Consigli with an angled drive.

Alexis Saelemaekers added a second following a powerful Theo Hernandez run in the 26th minute and Domenico Berardi pulled one back for Sassuolo late in the game.

Milan, again missing injured forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic as well as midfielder Ismael Bennacer and defender Simon Kjaer, remain unbeaten after 13 games and lead the standings with 31 points, one ahead of their neighbours Inter Milan. Sassuolo are sixth with 23 points.

After drawing their last two games against Parma and Genoa, both in the lower half of the table, Milan – whose starting line-up had an average age of just over 22 – got exactly the start they needed with Leao’s goal.

His lightning strike beat the previous record of eight seconds set by Piacenza’s Paolo Poggi against Fiorentina in 2001.

Calhanolgu again had the ball in the net after nine minutes but it was disallowed by VAR officials for an almost imperceptible offside against Saelemaekers in the buildup.

Milan’s second goal started from a Sassuolo corner just as the hosts appeared to be getting back into the game. Theo Hernandez broke clear and pulled the ball back for Saelemaekers to tap in.

Sassuolo improved in the second half but took until the 89th minute to get one back when Berardi scored from a deflected free kick.