AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli was pleased with their 1-0 win at Cagliari.

Ismael Bennacer struck a second-half winner for the Serie A leaders.

“Every game is an important crossroads now. I liked the team, even when we didn't score in the first half, as we played with quality and intensity," Pioli told Sky Italia.

“Cagliari caused us problems, but that's inevitable when you have two teams with such strong motivation.

“We would like to score more and went close again several times today, but the important thing is to win.

“We're doing great things, but we also know there are four sides that could still win the Scudetto. There's no point looking too far ahead, there's a long way to go and we need to concentrate only on our own path.

"What we were lacking in previous games was we would score and then try to control that lead, which really isn't in our nature. I was glad today that we took the lead and kept trying to score more, that is the attitude we need.

“We analysed recent matches and realised that was compromising our results. If we attack well, we defend even better. We are simply not suited to defending deep."