M’Baye Niang scored twice as Milan climbed up to fifth place in the Serie A table with a 4-1 home win over Sampdoria last night.
The French forward scored with a penalty towards the end of the first half and added a second goal four minutes after the break as Milan recorded a first win at the San Siro in a calendar month.
Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic was able to celebrate victory against his former club which he had left for Milan in the summer.
The win saw Milan close to seven points behind leaders and city rivals Inter in the Serie A standings while Vincenzo Montella’s Sampdoria were left in 12th place.
Milan survived a scare in the first minute when 16-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was forced to pull off his first save of the match.
The hosts took the lead after 16 minutes when Giacomo Bonaventura converted a chance set up by Niang.
With half an hour gone Carlos Bacca’s shot from distance went wide of the target as Milan looked for a second goal.
Milan stretched their lead with a Niang penalty seven minutes before half-time, the spot kick being awarded after Bonaventura had been fouled.
Niang’s hit his second goal four minutes into the second half with a shot from the edge of the area that put the result beyond any doubt.
With 17 minutes to go Niang was replaced by Luiz Adriano and within six minutes of coming on the Brazilian had made it 4-0.
Sampdoria scored a consolation goal through Eder’s penalty with three minutes to go.
Results
Serie A
Torino 2
Belotti 75; Vives 90;
Bologna 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 17,000.
Milan 4
Bonaventura 16; Niang 38 pen., 49; Luiz Adriano 78;
Sampdoria 1
Eder 87 pen.;
HT: 2-0. Att: 32,368.
Today
Chievo vs Udinese
Empoli vs Lazio - 18.00
Frosinone vs Verona
Genoa vs Carpi
Palermo vs Juventus - 20.45
Roma vs Atalanta
Tomorrow
Sassuolo vs Fiorentina - 19.00
Napoli vs Inter - 21.00
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Inter | 13 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 7 | 30 |
| Napoli | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 24 | 8 | 28 |
| Fiorentina | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 11 | 28 |
| Roma | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 29 | 15 | 27 |
| Milan | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 18 | 23 |
| Sassuolo | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 22 |
| Juventus | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 11 | 21 |
| Torino | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 18 | 21 |
| Lazio | 13 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 21 | 19 |
| Atalanta | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 15 | 18 |
| Chievo | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 13 | 16 |
| Sampdoria | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 22 | 16 |
| Genoa | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 17 | 16 |
| Palermo | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 17 | 15 |
| Udinese | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 15 |
| Empoli | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 20 | 15 |
| Bologna | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 13 | 19 | 13 |
| Frosinone | 13 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 22 | 11 |
| Verona | 13 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 21 | 6 |
| Carpi | 13 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 26 | 6 |
Next fixtures
Friday: 20.45 Lazio vs Juventus.
Saturday: 15.00 Torino vs Roma; 20.45 Inter vs Genoa.
Sunday: 12.30 Bologna vs Napoli. 15.00 Atalanta vs Palermo; Fiorentina vs Udinese; Frosinone vs Chievo; Verona vs Empoli. 18.00 Sampdoria vs Sassuolo. 20.45 Carpi vs Milan
Serie B
Avellino vs Perugia - 1-2
Brescia vs Cagliari - 4-0
Como vs Bari - 1-1
Livorno vs Novara - 0-1
Modena vs Entella - 0-1
Ternana vs Vicenza - 2-0
Virtus Lanciano vs Latina - 2-1
Today
Ascoli vs Trapani - 17.30
Standings: Cagliari 32; Crotone 31; Bari 29; Cesena 27; Novara 25; Pescara 24; Brescia 23; Perugia, Livorno, Entella 21; Pro Vercelli 20; Vicenza, Trapani 19; Latina, Spezia 17; Avellino, Ternana 16; Salernitana, Modena 15; Lanciano 14; Ascoli 13; Como 9.
Prima Divisione
Group A: Cittadella vs Reggiana 2-1; Pro Piacenza vs Bassano 1-1; Alessandria vs Giana 1-0; Cuneo vs Lumezzane 2-0; Pavia vs Mantova 2-2; Pro Patria vs Padova 0-0.
Group B: Arezzo vs Lupa Roma 1-1; Carrarese vs Pistoiese 2-0; Tuttocuoio vs Maceratese 2-1; Ancona vs Pontedera 1-1; Savona vs Rimini 0-0.
Group C: Melfi vs Matera 2-2; Lupa Romani vs Catania 1-2; Paganese vs Catanzaro 1-2; Benevento vs Cosenza 0-0.