A brilliant strike from Ismael Bennacer earned AC Milan a 1-0 victory at Cagliari on Saturday, as Stefano Pioli's side maintained their three-point lead at the top of Serie A.

Second-placed Napoli's comeback victory over Udinese earlier on Saturday put the pressure on Milan to respond, but they endured a frustrating first half in Sardinia, wasting several chances to break the deadlock.

It took the visitors until the 59th minute to find what proved to be the winner, and it was worth the wait as Olivier Giroud laid the ball off for Algeria international Bennacer to volley into the net from the edge of the penalty area.

Milan survived a major scare late on as Leonardo Pavoletti's last-gasp header came out off the crossbar, but the leaders held on to move onto 66 points from 30 matches played, three clear of Napoli and six ahead of Inter Milan in third.