Reports in Italy suggested Milan's poor start to the Serie A season meant the club was considering replacing Gattuso with former Chelsea and Juventus manager Antonio Conte.

But Franck Kessie's 20-yard drive got Milan up and running at the MAPEI Stadium, with Suso and Samu Castillejo also scoring from outside the penalty area in the second half.

A second from Suso in injury time sealed a win that breaks a run of three straight draws in the league and moves the Rossoneri into the top half, while Sassuolo – which got a goal back through Filip Djuricic – stays fifth after missing the chance to climb into second spot.

Suso thundered an early strike against the crossbar from a tight angle but Kessie should have given Milan the lead in the 26th minute - his dinked finish beat Andrea Consigli but lacked enough power to cross the line, allowing Pol Lirola to clear.

Federico Di Francesco missed a similarly golden chance when he drilled at the legs of Gianluigi Donnarumma when fed by Domenico Berardi, then Ignazio Abate's wonderful challenge prevented a certain Sassuolo goal.

Kessie made amends for his earlier miss by breaking the deadlock in the 39th minute, smashing a low drive into the bottom-right corner from 20 yards to round off a 50-yard run.

Another fine finish doubled Milan's advantage five minutes after the restart, with Suso – making his 100th Serie A appearance – cutting in off the right flank to whip home a 25-yard curler.

Milan gave up leads in its least two Serie A games but Castillejo seemingly made the points safe, scoring his first Rossoneri goal with another terrific left-foot shot from distance on the hour mark.

Although Sassuolo responded through Djuricic to spark a nervy finale, Suso scored again with the last kick of the game – his deflected shot surviving a VAR review – to boost Gattuso.