AC Milan maintain title charge at Cagliari as Inter lose more ground

AC Milan kept hold of their three-point lead at the top of Serie A on Saturday with a 1-0 win at Cagliari, while Inter Milan fell further behind their local rivals after being held 1-1 by Fiorentina. Ismael Bennacer struck the only goal in the 59th minute of a hard-fought match in Sardinia to keep Napoli at arm's length after they briefly drew level on points thanks to Victor Osimhen's double in a 2-1 win over Udinese. A third win on the bounce for Stefano Pioli's side stretched their unbeaten league run to eight games and increased hopes of a first Scudetto since 2011, but it was a match marred by racist abuse directed at Mike Maignan and Fikayo Tomori from a section of home fans at the final whistle which sparked a on-pitch shoving match. "Maignan said to me 'It's not possible that we're hearing these sorts of insults'," Pioli told DAZN. "It's the first time that he's reacted and that means something bad happened that shouldn't have happened. Tomori said the same thing."

It was beautiful goal which won the game, Algeria international Bennacer meeting Olivier Giroud's inviting lay-off with a sumptuous first-time finish from the edge of the box with his left foot. However, Milan would have had a less stressful final few minutes had Davide Calabria not ended a blistering counter-attack with a tame finish straight at Alessio Cragno when one-on-one only a few yards out. Leonardo Pavoletti thumped the crossbar with a powerful header as the match crept into stoppage time, but Milan just about held on for the win. With eight games to go Milan also have the gap between them and Inter at six points as Simone Inzaghi's side continue their struggles. The champions looked set for a grandstand finish at the San Siro after Denzel