Serie A: Milan Without Ibra Scrape 2-1 Win Against Sampdoria

AC Milan stood firm with their five-point lead at the top of Serie A after a hard-fought 2-1 win at Sampdoria, while Napoli moved third after strolling 4-0 victory over bottom side Crotone.

AllNews understands that again and again, Milan continues to prove they are a tough team and a title contender both in the Europa and Serie A even without their talisman, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Franck Kessie's penalty on the stroke of halftime and Samu Castillejo's 77th-minute strike were just enough for the seven-time European champions

Ivory Coast midfielder Kessie coolly struck home his spot-kick after Jakub Jankto unluckily handled while challenging for the ball with Theo Hernandez.

READ ALSO: Serie A: Ibra Scores Brace, Limps Off In 1-3 Milan Win Over Napoli

Sandro Tonali hit the post for Milan just after the break but the away side was on the back foot for much of the second half until substitute Castillejo doubled their lead with his first touch, set up by a fine pull-back from Ante Rebic.

Rebic would then surely have removed all doubt with 11 minutes left had Davide Calabria not ruined a fine team moved by duffing his pass to the waiting Croatian, who is yet to score this season.

That left Stefano Pioli's team to sweat out the final minutes after Albin Ekdal's powerful header just escaped Gianluigi Donnarumma's clutches, and their lead at the top of the table would have been cut to three had Swede Ekdal not put another aerial effort wide with the last attack of the game.