AC Milan tunes up for derby with Cremonese win
Strahinja Pavlovic and Rafael Leao scored late on as AC Milan defeated struggling Cremonese 2-0 in Serie A to move back within 10 points of Inter.
Inter's 2-0 win over Genoa on Sunday had left Milan 13 points off the summit, with the Derby della Madonnina to come next weekend, but two late goals ensured its faint title hopes did not take another blow.
Cremonese, which beat Milan at San Siro on matchday one but have not won a league game since 7 December, gave as good as it got in a competitive first half.
Federico Bonazzoli flicked an effort wide of Mike Maignan's left-hand post in the 26th minute, while Jamie Vardy failed to keep his shot down from the resulting corner.
Milan then had a huge chance of their own in the 34th minute as Youssouf Fofana released Leao with a pinpoint through-ball, but the Portugal forward dragged his attempt wide.
Fofana was also denied by Emil Audero in first-half stoppage time, and Milan became increasingly dominant in the second period, with Leao spurning another decent opening.
It looked as though Milan would have to settle for a point when Niclas Fullkrug nodded Luka Modric's cross off-target in the 86th minute, but only three minutes later, another curling delivery from the Croatian was flicked on by Koni De Winter and bundled in by Pavlovic.
With Cremonese growing desperate four minutes into stoppage time, they were caught out by a rapid break, with Christopher Nkunku squaring the ball for a simple Leao tap-in.
Ahead of this game, Milan had failed to score in its last three away Serie A games against Cremonese (two draws, one loss), with its most recent goals at the Stadio Giovanni Zini coming from Jean-Pierre Papin and Marco Simone in a 2-0 victory on 26 September 1993.
It looked as though it may be frustrated again on Monday, but a late show handed it the win.
