MILAN: A profligate AC Milan secured a hard-fought 1-0 home win over Lecce on Sunday, with Niclas Fullkrug heading in a late winner to ensure they kept pace in the Serie A title race.

Milan are second in the table with 46 points, three behind city rivals Inter Milan at the summit.

Milan found it hard to break through in the first half, probing patiently without reward, and saw an early effort from Rafael Leao ruled out for offside.

The pressure from Milan continued after the break, but Lecce goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone stood firm, producing a string of outstanding saves, including one stop to deny Christian Pulisic that left the US forward stunned.

The breakthrough finally came in the 76th minute, when Alexis Saelemaekers lifted a delicate ball back from the byline that was met by Fullkrug, who made no mistake with a close-range header for his first goal for the club.

“I got an incredible assist for Ale and yeah, it’s the dream of a striker to get an assist like this,” said Fullkrug to DAZN.

“I’m very thankful and very grateful to be here to wear the shirt, to get the trust you also need as a striker... It’s a very good group, great atmosphere, and that’s why I’m 100 per cent happy.”

Fullkrug suffered a broken toe soon after moving to northern Italy and local media widely report that thieves stole half a million euros worth of watches and jewelry from his hotel room while he was away for Milan’s midweek win at Como.

Asked by DAZN if his goal made up for his recent misfortune, Fullkrug smiled and said: “Yeah, it’s enough.”

Milan’s next opponents AS Roma comfortably won 2-0 at Torino thanks to a star performance from Paulo Dybala, who laid on new arrival Donyell Malen for a classy close-range finish midway through the first half before ensuring a third straight win in the 72nd minute.

The Argentina international’s brilliantly guided finish from Devyne Rensch’s cross was his first goal in nearly three months and helped put fourth-placed Roma on 42 points, four behind Milan.

Dybala has had a difficult first campaign under Gian Piero Gasperini with familiar injury problems and the rise of countryman Matias Soule suggesting his time might be up in the Italian capital.

But the 32-year-old was excellent in a win which was revenge for being eliminated from the Italian Cup by Torino on Tuesday night, and moved Roma three points ahead of fifth-placed Juventus in the battle for Champions League football.

“Dybala put in a really good performance today, our first goal was fantastic. You can see that he and Malen understand each other on the pitch,” said Gasperini.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2026