Cissè broke the deadlock in the 64th minute with a first-time finish before Rabiot doubled the lead soon after, with Ché Adams' spectacular stoppage-time volley proving only a consolation for Ignazio Abate's Torino.
Abate was honest in his assessment of a first-half display he felt fell short.
"Quality had an impact, but honestly I have to say the first half didn't please me, we need more courage and we need to play football by managing the ball. In the second half I saw more courage, but paradoxically we conceded two goals, the second of which was avoidable. I liked the team's reaction, it's a shame we didn't get back into it sooner."
Asked whether his squad needed strengthening, Abate acknowledged the scale of the task ahead.
"Yes, an important week certainly awaits us, then I work with the group I have, which is very young. We have great room for improvement."
On what went wrong in the first half specifically, he added: "I wanted to manage the ball a bit more, Milan become more dangerous when they find reference points, but we never managed to build any real circulation. We only played on the counter, maybe we respected Milan a bit too much. If you push your line higher they can punish you, but I like it when the team shows courage."
Amorim, winning his first competitive match in charge, was full of praise for the impact of teenage forward Cissè.
"It wasn't just the goal, but the quality he showed throughout the match. I think in the first half he was our most 'experienced' player for the way he played going forward. We have a lot to improve on. We saw two different Milans: a team up to minute 75 and a different one after.
"We had physical difficulties. To play like that and press so high we would have needed more matches in pre-season, but next year we'll fix that too. We have a lot of players, like Rabiot, who are practically doing their pre-season right now."
Asked about his emotional celebration for the opening goal, Amorim reflected on adapting to life as AC Milan's head coach.
"We saw a way of playing closer to what we're used to. But we need time to get the team used to playing in different ways. The celebration? It was the celebration of a fan who's used to celebrating Milan goals, and now he's the manager. I felt the pressure with my staff. And even though we sat deeper at the end, I saw a team. Despite the tiredness, we were a team."
On the tactical approach across the two halves, Amorim explained the thinking behind his side's control.
"In the first half our objective was to control the game, not let it become a game of transitions. We spoke about it in the dressing room, it's important if you want to win. The players understood: we need to win. It's not about waiting or speculating. So in the first 20 minutes of the second half we put a lot of speed on the pitch. We suffered at the end because we're a bit short of physicality right now."
Asked what pleased him most, he added: "The first thing is always winning. We talked about ways of playing, but in football there's only one objective: to win. From tomorrow we go back to working on everything: how we need to play near the opposition box and how we need to defend in our own box."