AC Milan earned their first win in nearly a month after securing a convincing 4-0 victory at Udinese in Serie A on Friday.

The visitors scored twice in each half to end a run of three games without a win in all competitions, moving them to within six points of fourth place.

Tijjani Reijnders should have opened the scoring less than a minute in, profiting from a defensive mix-up, only to be denied by a fine Maduka Okoye save.

There was little to split the teams after that until Rafael Leao whipped a delightful curling shot into the top corner to break the deadlock in the 42nd minute.

Strahinja Pavlovic scored a quickfire second before the break, rising high to meet Christian Pulisic's corner to put Sergio Conceicao's side in control.

However, Milan lost goalkeeper Mike Maignan early into the second half after a terrible clash of heads with team-mate Alex Jimenez. The French goalkeeper was taken off the pitch on a stretcher.

Theo Hernandez then blasted in the third in the 74th minute - the defender started the move in his own half before linking up with Tammy Abraham, which opened up the space for his strike.

Reijnders, who had seen chances go begging throughout the game, then completed the rout from close range late on, with no pressure put on him by Udinese.

Milan are ninth in Serie A on 51 points after 32 games, six points behind fourth-placed Bologna, who travel to Atalanta on Sunday. Udinese are 11th with 40 points.

Data Debrief: Milan find clinical edge

It was a much-needed win for Milan, who had dropped off the pace after winning just two of their previous seven Serie A matches prior to this game.

However, after completing the double over Udinese for the first time since 2007-08, Milan have given themselves some hope of earning a place in the top-four this season.

Leao set them on their way, netting his seventh goal of the season, with all of them coming away from home.

And while they looked impressive at the top end of the pitch, they also kept their first clean sheet since February 15, ending a run of nine outings in all competitions without one.