López propels Milan back to the Serie A summit

AC Milan returned to the Serie A summit after scoring twice in the last 13 minutes to come from behind and beat Udinese Calcio.

After losing two of their last three matches in all competitions Milan were in need of a victory to restore confidence and breathe new life into their title challenge. However, once Antonio Di Natale had scored his 17th league goal of the campaign in the 19th minute following a smart one-two with Gelson Fernandes, it appeared as though Udinese would be joining the Rossoneri – playing without their suspended talisman Zlatan Ibrahimović – on 44 points.

However, Massimiliano Allegri's side, who welcome Arsenal FC to San Siro in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg on Wednesday, rallied late in the second half. López ‒ a January loan signing from Calcio Catania ‒ came off the bench to register his first goal for his new club (77) and then set up Stephan El Shaarawy for the winner (85). The victory takes Milan two points clear of Juventus, who have two matches in hand. Cagliari Calcio host US Città di Palermo in the late kick-off.

In the late kick-off, Cagliari Calcio triumphed in the Derby delle Isole with a 2-1 victory against US Città di Palermo. Mauricio Pinilla, who moved from Palermo in January, opened the scoring on 56 minutes and was again involved nine minutes from time, as the home side doubled their advantage through Daniele Dessena. Abel Hernández halved the deficit from the spot, before Cagliari held on for all three points.