Austria Vienna 1-5 AC Milan: Andre Silva fires three past hopeless Vienna as Milan cruise to Europa League win

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Arsenal's first Europa League match in 17 years was delayed for an hour in the interest of fan safety, and AC Milan kicked off by subduing host Austria Vienna 5-1 on Thursday night. 

Arsenal decided to delay the start against Cologne after thousands of ticket-less Cologne fans made it hard for ticket holders to get into the Emirates Stadium. 

Meanwhile in Austria, however, 21-year-old Andre Silva, who signed for the Milan revolution for £35million pounds earlier this summer, was on hand to steal the show in Austria.  

A hat-trick from Andre Silva saw AC Milan run out easy winners against FK Austria Wien

Turk Hakan Calhanoglu opened the scoring for the Italians inside 10 minutes

Milan boss Vincenzo Montella was looking for a response after 4-1 defeat at Lazio

Silva truly took the game by the scruff of the neck as struck two in the first-half and completed his hat-trick on 56 minutes. 

His three goals were sandwiched by Hakan Calhanoglu's rocket into the top right corner, who also bagged two assists, and substitute Suso completing the five goal romp with half-hour still to play.  

It was a game that was always going to be an uphill struggle for Vienna - even when playing at home - due to the sheer firepower at the disposal of Milan boss Vincenzo Montella, who was boasting a Milan side that has spent over £160million.

And you could definitely see that as Milan destroyed their opponents in every statistic on the board, dominating possession 60-40, hitting 14 shots, and seven on target, to Vienna's six and three. 

And got just that as Milan team-mates celebrate Silva's hat-trick

Calhanoglu finished his effort - and celebrated - in style after firing into the top corner

Nikola Kalinic was on hand to assist Turk Calhanoglu for the opening goal of the game

The home supporters provided the perfect backdrop for a European night

Vienna's willingness and strong attitude did pay dividends eventually though, when Alexandar Borkovic's header reduced the deficit early in the second-half to just two goals. Silva though, was quick to reclaim AC's dominance and completed his hat trick just over ten minutes after.

Suso finished the rout just a minute after coming off the bench, slotting the ball away after an hour, and it was really a shock that the scoring stopped there with over a half of the second period to run.

After three years away, AC Milan returned to European competition as perhaps the favourite - at least until December when eight teams jump in as a result of placing third in a Champions League group. 

But despite their undeniable loyalty the visitors had too much fire power

The 5-1 thrashing left Vienna with just their consolation goal to take away from the evening