Serie A: AC Milan beat Roma to consolidate third spot

A trio of French goals helped AC Milan strengthen their place in Serie A’s Champions League positions in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Roma.

Yacine Adli’s first Milan goal early on, an Olivier Giroud header 10 minutes after the break and Theo Hernandez’s thumping strike late on earned the points for the seven-time European champions, who had a distinctly French flavour at a freezing San Siro.

Milan sit nine points behind league leaders Inter Milan, and took advantage of other top four contenders dropping points to consolidate third place in Italy’s top flight.

Stefano Pioli’s side are nine points ahead of Lazio who moved up to fifth by beating Lecce 1-0 in Sunday’s early match, while fourth-placed Fiorentina are eight back after only drawing 2-2 with lowly Udinese.

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A third straight league win came at the expense of a feeble Roma side missing talisman Paulo Dybala and again lacking attacking creativity.

Jose Mourinho’s side are ninth after a largely dismal display enlivened only by Leandro Paredes’ 69th minute penalty which came completely against the run of play.

It was another hard defeat for Roma after being knocked out of the Italian Cup midweek by local rivals Lazio, who they trail by four points.

The magic appears to have worn off for Mourinho at Roma where he is adored for reaching two European finals in consecutive seasons and winning the inaugural Europa Conference League but is now attracting criticism for poor performances and results.