Leao and Gimenez seal victory for Milan at Empoli
Santiago Gimenez scored his first AC Milan goal as the Rossoneri overcame Empoli 2-0 at Stadio Carlo Castellani in Serie A.
Rafael Leao was also on target for Sergio Conceicao's side, which struck twice in the final quarter of the contest to maintain the pressure on the top four in Serie A.
After a low-key first half, both sides were reduced to 10 men after the break.
Fikayo Tomori was shown a second yellow card in the 55th minute while, 10 minutes later, Luca Marianucci received a straight red card after a video assistant referee (VAR) review after kicking out at Gimenez.
Conceicao had introduced Leao, Gimenez and Christian Pulisic at half-time in a bid to generate a spark from Milan.
Two of them were involved as they took the lead in the 68th minute with Leao powering home a header from Pulisic's cross.
The United States international provided another assist eight minutes later by teeing up Gimenez, whose lovely curling effort moved the Rossoneri back to within five points of fourth-place Juventus.
Meanwhile, Empoli is now without a win in nine matches and remains only one point above the relegation zone.
AC Milan coach Conceicao was delighted that his decision to gamble by still going for a win when reduced to 10 men.
"The temptation at that moment was to take off a striker, to put in a defender, but I didn't do it," the Poruguese said.
"I moved [Yunus] Musah to the right and put [Kyle] Walker in central defence and Joao Felix a bit deeper. A draw here is like a defeat for Milan, so I had to take the gamble.
"With all due respect for Empoli's aggressive nature and direct approach, we were the better team throughout and picked up three important points."
Conceicao was full of praise for his new signing Gimenez after the Mexico striker made a flying start to life in Italy after his move from Feyenoord.
"Santi is a quality player, I had already followed him when I was at Porto," he said.
"Quality works when the players are able to push outside their comfort zone and play for the greater good, which is the collective of the team. These details can bring everyone up to a higher level.
"When the players all understand what needs to be done, it will all be much simpler and also more enjoyable for them. This is the kind of football that I want to see."
