AC Milan boosted their hopes of clinching a Champions League spot after a 2-1 win over Genoa in Serie A.

After a stilted first half, Milan got their breakthrough just after the break, but it was Zachary Athekame's late goal that proved enough to move them to third place in the table.

Ruslan Malinovsky, playing his final home game for Genoa, saw two openings go begging early on, while Youssouf Fofana had the only effort on target before the break, with a glancing header from a corner.

But just three minutes after the break, Justin Bijlow flew off his goal line to try and intercept a long ball – only to take out Christopher Nkunku, who duly dispatched the resulting spot-kick.

Malinovsky attempted to pull Genoa level, but his powerful strike from the edge of the area instead sailed just over the crossbar.

Before Genoa could build up a head of steam, Milan worked a simple throw-in to the edge of the box 81 minutes in, with Athekame putting his laces through a first-time shot into the bottom-right corner.

Genoa set up a nervy ending five minutes later, with skipper Johan Vasquez responding quickest to a scramble in the box by stretching out a leg to poke past Mike Maignan from close range. However, they could not find a leveller in 10 minutes of stoppage time.

Data Debrief: Nkunku on the spot

Nkunku has now scored seven goals for Milan in Serie A this season, more than he managed across his previous two Premier League campaigns with Chelsea combined (three in both 2023-24 and 2024-25).

On a day when Milan largely struggled for creativity, he had the most shots (two) and touches in the opposition box (five), while also playing 10 passes in the opposition box, the joint second-most behind Adrien Rabiot (17).

Nkunku is only the second Rossoneri player to the last 10 seasons to score at least five penalties in a single Serie A campaign, after Franck Kessie in 2020-21 (11).

Milan have won four consecutive away games against Genoa in Serie A for the first time in their history.

More importantly, Massimiliano Allegri's side ended a three-game winless run, meaning their fate is in their own hands when they face Cagliari next weekend.