Against Cagliari in Sardinia on Thursday, Milan appeared to struggle in the attacking department. With Zlatan Ibrahimovic suspended and out of action, the Rossoneri were missing the spark and were also allowing the hosts to take the game to them.
The introduction of their final trump card Antonio Cassano in the 74th minute, though, changed the contour of the match as the Italy international crafted Rodney Strasser’s winning goal five minutes from full-time.
The narrow 1-0 victory actually stretched Milan's lead at the top of the table in Serie A to five points after both Lazio and Napoli failed to gather maximum points and confirmed their status as winter champions. With 39 points from 18 matches, the former Italian and European champions are marching on towards their first Scudetto triumph since 2004.