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AC Milan cruise past Sampdoria with M'Baye Niang brace

M'Baye Niang scored twice as AC Milan climbed up to fifth place in the Serie A table with a 4-1 home win over Sampdoria.

The French forward scored with a penalty towards the end of the first half and added a second goal four minutes after the break as AC Milan recorded a first win at the San Siro in a calendar month.

Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic was able to celebrate victory against his former club which he had left for Milan in the summer.

The win saw Milan close to seven points behind leaders and city rivals Inter in the Serie A standings while Vincenzo Montella's Sampdoria were left in 12th place.

Milan survived a scare in the first minute when 16-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was forced to pull off his first save of the match.

Milan midfielder Alessio Cerci then thought he had opened the scoring but his effort was ruled out for offside.

The hosts did take the lead after 16 minutes when Giacomo Bonaventura converted a chance set up by Niang.

With half an hour gone Carlos Bacca shot from distance went wide of the target as Milan looked for a second goal.

Milan stretched their lead with a Niang penalty seven minutes before half-time, the spot kick being awarded after Bonaventura had been fouled.

Niang's second goal four minutes into the second half with a shot from the edge of the area put the result beyond any doubt.

With 17 minutes to go Niang was replaced by Luiz Adriano and within six minutes of coming on the Brazilian had made it 4-0.

Sampdoria scored a consolation goal through Eder's penalty with three minutes to go.