CREMONA, Italy: AC Milan moved closer to Champions League football next season after two late strikes gave them a 2-0 win at Cremonese on Sunday.
Strahinja Pavlovic put Milan ahead in the 90th minute with his shoulder before Rafael Leao's simple finish in stoppage time gave the away side a result which flattered a drab display in Cremona.
Milan, who have been without European football this season, have little realistic hope of winning the Serie A title as the seven-time European champions are 10 points behind league leaders Inter Milan.
Next weekend's Milan derby has little more than local pride riding on it with Inter speeding off into the distance with 11 games remaining in the league campaign.
Milan's stated aim for the season, however, was qualification for the Champions League and Massimiliano Allegri's team are on course for that objective.
"We have a huge goal to reach with teams behind us who continue collecting points," said Allegri to DAZN.
"You have Como, Atalanta still have to play, Napoli won in the end and there are also Roma and Juventus. All we can do is take it one step at a time."
Fifth-placed Como are nine points behind Milan, while Roma, seven points behind them in fourth, face Juventus in Sunday's headline fixture.
Atalanta can move to within two points of the Champions League spots with a win at Sassuolo, following their thrilling 4-3 aggregate triumph over Borussia Dortmund which made them the only Italian team in the last 16 of Europe's top club competition.
Jamie Vardy's Cremonese are sliding towards relegation to Serie B after a 13th straight match without a win, the promoted outfit sitting outside the drop zone on goal difference. — AFP
Italian Serie A results on Sunday:
Cremonese 0 AC Milan 2 (Pavlovic 90, Leao 90+4)
Played Saturday
Como 3 (Douvikas 18, Rodriguez 35, Kempf 44) Lecce 1 (Coulibaly 13)
Inter Milan 2 (Dimarco 31, Calhanoglu 70-pen) Genoa 0
Verona 1 (Akpa Akpro 64) Napoli 2 (Hojlund 2, Lukaku 90+5)
Friday
Parma 1 (Oristanio 83) Cagliari 1 (Folorunsho 63)
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