AC Milan 1-0 Fiorentina: Theo Hernandez penalty sees Rossoneri beat Viola, Francesco Camarda breaks Paolo Maldini record

Theo Hernandez’s penalty on the stroke of half time was enough to give AC Milan victory over Fiorentina.

The full-back himself created the spot kick when he ran through on goal and was dragged down by Fabiano Parisi.

The method of victory befitted a quiet game of football, which was notable for the introduction of 15-year-old Francesco Camarda who takes over from Paolo Maldini as Milan’s youngest-ever debutant.

Fiorentina dominated the second half but could not make their possession and territorial advantage count, albeit it took a bizarre injury-time save from Mike Maignan to deny them.

A corner bypassed all at the front post and found substitute Rolando Mandragora two yards from goal but his effort struck the head of Maignan, who had speedily traversed the goal-line, and then bounced to safety.

The win sees Milan leapfrog Napoli into third place in Serie A. Fiorentina remain fifth.

If Milan had lost this game the points disparity with just 13 games played between themselves and co-tenants of the San Siro, Inter, could have gone to double figures if the Nerazzuri beat Juventus on Sunday. Instead the distance now lies at five and will stay within two wins if the Bianconeri pick something up at the Allianz Stadium.

Though in theory this keeps Milan’s title hopes alive, even the most one-eyed fan will find it hard to conceive of them challenging this year with this match exposing the shallow depth to the squad. Olivier Giroud at 37 remains a pivotal figure and they are similarly reliant on Rafael Leao. Without them they were toothless against Fiorentina and better opposition would also have punished them at the other end – as Inter did in the Milan derby.

It seems far longer than 18 months ago that Milan won the Scudetto in 2022-23, then they finished two points ahead of Inter, last year they were two points below (with Napoli well clear). This time round Stefano Pioli’s team will be lucky to finish within 20 of their neighbours.

With the rest of the Milan team, without their key attacking players, did little to threaten Fiorentina, the full-back took matters into his own hands. A typical driving run from deep saw him win the penalty and then in the second half his clever through-ball should have created a goal for Luka Jovic.

Milan: Maignan 7; Calabria 6, Thiaw 6, Tomori 6, Hernandez 8*; Musah 6, Reijnders 7, Pobega 6; Chukwueze 6, Jovic 6, Pulisic 6.

Subs: Loftus-Cheek 6, Krunic 6, Camarda 6, Florenzi 6.

Fiorentina: Terracciano 7; Parisi 6, Milenkovic 6, Martinez 6, Quarta 6, Biraghi 6; Arthur 6, Duncan 6; Nico Gonzalez 6, Bonaventura 6, Sottil 7; Beltran 5.

Subs: Lopez 6, Nzola 6, Ikone 6, Mandragora 6, Kouame 6.

43′ POBEGA MEETS CORNER AT FRONT POST! And he directs a header just inside the post which Terraccino saves well at full-stretch.

45+1′ PENALTY FOR MILAN! Hernandez ran through on goal and was pushed over by Parisi.

45+2′ GOAL FOR MILAN (THEO HERNANDEZ)! Hernandez slowly steps towards the spot and sends the keeper the wrong way.

76′ ALMOST A SECOND! Hernandez scored the first and this time creates what should have been the second for Jokic who beat the offside trap but his low shot is saved by the sprawling keeper.

90′ GONZALEZ GOES CLOSE TO EQUALISING! The corner beat everyone in the middle and after Ikone’s effort was blocked, Gonzalez saw one of his efforts thwarted and then from the rebound curled an effort just wide of the post.

90+7′ GREAT SAVE FROM MAIGNAN! A corner comes to Mandragora two yards from goal but Maignan quickly gets across his line and the shot smacks against his head before being cleared to safety.