Niclas Fullkrug came off the bench to score his first AC Milan goal, heading home an Alexis Saelemaekers cross to seal a hard-fought 1–0 victory over Lecce and finally break down the visitors’ stubborn defence.
The Rossoneri consolidated second place with this midweek, rescheduled Week 16 fixture, building on their recent 3–1 win away to Como, where Adrien Rabiot struck twice against the run of play. Santiago Gimenez was the only absentee, as Christian Pulisic returned to the starting XI, while Luka Modric and Youssouf Fofana were rested.
Lecce arrived with just one point from their last five matches, though that included a surprise 1–1 draw at Juventus, and they had lost 1–0 to Inter at San Siro earlier in the week.
Francesco Camarda missed out against his parent club due to a shoulder injury, with Medon Berisha sidelined and Kialonda Gaspar and Danilo Veiga suspended, while Lameck Banda and Ylber Ramadani returned from bans.
Saelemaekers curled an early effort wide from the edge of the area, while Rafael Leao had the ball in the net only to be ruled offside after straying beyond the defence on a Saelemaekers pass.
Tiago Gabriel made a crucial interception to stop Pulisic from tapping in a Saelemaekers cut-back, though the duo soon combined again as the American’s angled drive was parried at the near post by Wladimiro Falcone.
After the restart, Antonino Gallo threw himself in the way of a Saelemaekers effort inside the box, and Matteo Gabbia headed over from the resulting corner.
Pervis Estupinan then blasted over from distance, before Falcone produced a superb reaction save to fingertip Samuele Ricci’s low drive around the base of the post.
The Lecce goalkeeper was even more impressive moments later, denying Pulisic when the winger was sent clean through by a perfectly weighted first-time pass from Leao.
Rabiot wasted another chance by ballooning over from nine yards after an Estupinan cut-back, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek was caught off guard by Rabiot’s knock-down, unable to steer the ball home from close range.
Milan’s relentless pressure finally told when Gabbia’s long ball released Saelemaekers down the right, and his cross was met by Fullkrug’s glancing header from five yards.
The former West Ham striker had been on the pitch for just three minutes, marking his January move with a decisive first goal in Rossoneri colours.
Saelemaekers was later forced off with a muscular issue, while Christopher Nkunku failed to capitalise on an inspired Luka Modric pass. Falcone still had the final say in stoppage time, producing another point-blank save to deny Nkunku and keep the scoreline respectable.
