Milan started sluggishly against struggling Verona, looking like a team still reeling from three defeats in their last four matches, including a demoralising 3-0 loss at home to Udinese last time out.
Rossoneri supporters had to wait until the 32nd minute for Adrien Rabiot to finally register the game’s first shot on target, driving a rather tame effort straight at Lorenzo Montipò.
To the visitors’ delight, Rabiot produced something far more clinical when another opportunity arose in the closing stages of the first period.
Starting his run from deep, the experienced midfielder raced onto Rafael Leão’s perfectly weighted through ball and calmly slotted beyond the onrushing goalkeeper.
Massimiliano Allegri’s charges still required the reliable Mike Maignan to make a crucial intervention to leave Gialloblù trailing at the break, with the goalkeeper reacting well to thwart Rafik Belghali in a dangerous one-on-one situation.
With a deficit to overcome, Verona interim boss Paolo Sammarco was left with an unenviable half-time team talk, knowing his team needed to stage a dramatic turnaround to boost their distant survival hopes.
Ioan Vermeșan threatened to make an impact after being introduced at the interval, going close with two ambitious strikes from distance, the first of which forced Maignan into a low stop before his second whistled just wide of the far post.
As the contest entered the final 20 minutes, Matteo Gabbia thought he had ended Verona’s hopes of a positive result when he headed in from close range, only to be denied by the assistant’s raised flag.
Alexis Saelemaekers then had a late effort dramatically cleared off the line, but fortunately for Milan, the insurance of a second goal was not required to clinch an 11th consecutive H2H victory, strengthening their position inside the top four.
At the opposite end of the table, the Gialloblù are left propping up the table and a mammoth 10 points adrift from safety with just five games left to play.