Serie A leaders AC Milan continued their pursuit of the league title by beating Empoli at the San Siro.
Pierre Kalulu scored the game’s only goal with a superb curled strike from distance in the first half.
AC Milan had several chances to add to their lead, with Olivier Giroud seeing a header saved while Franck Kessie had a decent shot blocked.
Sebastiano Luperto went close for Empoli but his header was kept out by Mike Maignan.
The win means AC Milan are five points clear at the top of the table, although second-place Inter Milan have two games in hand.
Line-ups
AC Milan
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 16Maignan
- 2Calabria
- 20Kalulu
- 23Tomori
- 25Florenzi
- 8TonaliBooked at 90mins
- 4BennacerSubstituted forKrunicat 88′minutes
- 30MessiasSubstituted forSaelemaekersat 72′minutes
- 79KessiéSubstituted forDÃazat 72′minutes
- 17da Conceição LeãoSubstituted forRebicat 83′minutes
- 9GiroudSubstituted forIbrahimovicat 83′minutes
Substitutes
- 1Tatarusanu
- 5Ballo-Touré
- 7Castillejo Azuaga
- 10DÃaz
- 11Ibrahimovic
- 12Rebic
- 13Romagnoli
- 27Maldini
- 33Krunic
- 46Gabbia
- 56Saelemaekers
- 83Mirante
Empoli
Formation 4-3-2-1
- 13Vicario
- 20FiamozziSubstituted forStojanovicat 63′minutes
- 6Romagnoli
- 33Luperto
- 21CacaceSubstituted forParisiat 63′minutes
- 27Zurkowski
- 23Asllani
- 25BandinelliSubstituted forBenassiat 71′minutes
- 10BajramiSubstituted forDi Francescoat 71′minutes
- 8HendersonSubstituted forCutroneat 63′minutes
- 99Pinamonti
Substitutes
- 1Ujkani
- 5Stulac
- 7Verre
- 9Cutrone
- 11Di Francesco
- 15Benassi
- 19La Mantia
- 26Tonelli
- 30Stojanovic
- 34Ismajli
- 42Viti
- 65Parisi
Live Text
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Match ends, AC Milan 1, Empoli 0.
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Second Half ends, AC Milan 1, Empoli 0.
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Sandro Tonali (AC Milan) is shown the yellow card.
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Foul by Sandro Tonali (AC Milan).
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Fabiano Parisi (Empoli) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Ante Rebic (AC Milan) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Foul by Petar Stojanovic (Empoli).
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Substitution, AC Milan. Rade Krunic replaces Ismaël Bennacer.
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Corner, Empoli. Conceded by Alessandro Florenzi.
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Offside, AC Milan. Zlatan Ibrahimovic tries a through ball, but Davide Calabria is caught offside.
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Attempt blocked. Marco Benassi (Empoli) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
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Attempt missed. Petar Stojanovic (Empoli) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right following a corner.
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Corner, Empoli. Conceded by Fikayo Tomori.
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Substitution, AC Milan. Zlatan Ibrahimovic replaces Olivier Giroud.
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Substitution, AC Milan. Ante Rebic replaces Rafael Leão.
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Corner, AC Milan. Conceded by Simone Romagnoli.
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Ismaël Bennacer (AC Milan) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Foul by Szymon Zurkowski (Empoli).
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Attempt missed. Olivier Giroud (AC Milan) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Sandro Tonali with a cross following a corner.
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Corner, AC Milan. Conceded by Fabiano Parisi.
