Serie A: Spezia Prove A Torn In Milan's Title Chase

Giant killer, Spezia felled another Serie A giant as they shocked league leaders AC Milan with a dominant display in a 2-0 victory on Saturday.

Having already beaten AS Roma in the Coppa Italia and Napoli in the league since the turn of the year, Spezia, making their Serie A debut this season, scored twice through Giulio Maggiore and Simone Bastoni, both in the second half, to seal a surprise success.

Milan never got going and finished the match without having had a shot on target, while being completely outplayed by their opponents.

Spezia saw out the win with ease to move up to 14th in the standings on 24 points, with Milan facing the prospect of losing the top spot to rivals Inter Milan, should Antonio Conte's side beat Lazio on Sunday.

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AC Milan's charge for a first league title since 2011 took a hit on Saturday after they fell to a deserved defeat at promoted Spezia and gave Inter Milan an opportunity to claim the top spot in Serie A.

Seven-time European champions Milan had the chance to stretch their lead over Inter to five points and put 10 between themselves and third-placed Juventus, who lost 1-0 at Napoli earlier in the evening.

Vincenzo Italiano's side showed why observers in Italy back them to stay up, pushing Milan onto the back foot from the start and not letting them have a single shot on target despite the presence of talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

In fact, it was Gianluigi Donnarumma who kept the away side level early on, making one fantastic save with 13 minutes gone to push Riccardo Saponara's powerful effort out from under the bar.

However, the Italy stopper could do nothing in the 56th minute when after a sweeping passing move Maggiore found himself completely unmarked within spitting distance of the goal and slotted the home side ahead.

Bastoni doubled the hosts' lead 11 minutes later with a screamer of a strike, meeting Nahuel Estevez's pass from a free-kick to flash an angled shot past Donnarumma's despairing dive for his first Serie A goal.

Substitute Mario Mandzukic's weak header wide in stoppage time was a sign of how little resistance Milan had put up in a dreadful display.