Switzerland forward forced home his fifth league goal of the season
\nMILAN
\nNoah Okafor struck late to fire AC Milan to a 1-0 win at Lazio on Friday in a fiery Serie A match in Rome which finished with the outraged hosts down to eight men.
\nSwitzerland forward Okafor forced home his fifth league goal of the season with two minutes remaining, pushing Milan up to 56 points in third place and further strengthening his team\u2019s position in Italy\u2019s Champions League spots.
\nStefano Pioli\u2019s Milan are still 13 points behind league leaders Inter Milan, who host Genoa on Monday, but are just one behind second-placed Juventus.
\nJuve are at Napoli in Sunday night\u2019s big game and have Milan breathing down their necks after a poor recent run of form.
\nOkafor\u2019s strike was the most exciting moment of football in a niggly game in which Lazio had two players sent off in stoppage time, with a cascade of boos from dumbfounded home fans greeting the final whistle.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s was a game with a lot of fouls, we didn\u2019t have much rhythm,\u201d said Pioli to DAZN.
\nFriday\u2019s win also moved Milan 10 points ahead from fifth-placed Atalanta who on Sunday host Bologna, this year\u2019s surprise package in fourth.
\nIt will make relations with Milan\u2019s American ownership slightly easier for Pioli as rumours continue to swirl about him being replaced in the summer after owner Gerry Cardinale said he was \u201cnot satisfied\u201d on Thursday.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a big win looking at the matches being played this weekend… we\u2019re trying to make this season a positive one as we still have big goals to reach,\u201d added Pioli.
\nLazio drop down to ninth, level on 40 points with Napoli, after a defeat which was dreadful preparation for Tuesday\u2019s return leg with Bayern Munich in the Champions League last 16.
\nMaurizio Sarri\u2019s side lead Bayern by a single goal after winning the first leg in the Italian capital 1-0 last month and his players will need to pick themselves as they are eight points from the top four.
\nLazio\u2019s task against Milan was made harder when Luca Pellegrini was dismissed for a second bookable offence in the 57th minute after yanking back Christian Pulisic, sparking a pushing match between both sets of players.
\nDefender Pellegrini thought that play had been stopped after Valentin Castellanos had been clattered by Ismael Bennacer and was furious at being sent off.
\nAnd Adam Marusic was given a straight red card for dissent in the fourth minute of added time before Matteo Guendouzi was also sent off for reacting to being fouled.
\nLazio owner Claudio Lotito was so angered by referee Marco Di Bello\u2019s performance that he said the club would take action against the decisions made against his team.
\n\u201cWhen the system isn\u2019t reliable we should ask ourselves some questions,\u201d said Lotito.
\n\u201cA referee should be able to understand where breaking point is… the league needs to have an independent control body which is outside of the current system.\u201d
\nHowever despite having to play for half an hour a man down Lazio almost took the lead through substitute Ciro Immobile in the 75th minute, when the Italy striker turned wide a glorious chance from close range.
\nImmobile also dragged wide another presentable opportunity shortly before Marusic was sent off and the match descended into chaos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Switzerland forward forced home his fifth league goal of the season MILAN Noah Okafor struck late to fire AC Milan to a 1-0 win at Lazio on Friday in a fiery Serie A match in Rome which finished with the outraged hosts down to eight men. Switzerland forward Okafor forced home his fifth league goal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-391046","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n