After shipping nine goals in the first half across their previous two home matches, there was a clear focus from Verona to keep things tight and grow into the game.
That approach appeared to be working as the visitors couldn’t threaten despite dominating the possession, and Tomas Suslov had the first real shot on goal of the game just before the half hour mark as he forced a smart stop from Mike Maignan.
Paulo Fonseca’s side lacked any attacking impetus at all in the first half, with an optimistic drive from Filippo Terracciano just before the half easily tipped over by Lorenzo Montipo as the sides went in level.
That did change after the interval as the Rossoneri came out a changed side, and only some excellent last-ditch defending from Darko Lazovic denied Samuel Chukwueze a potential tap-in at the far post.
Verona had defended well, but they were sliced open just before the hour mark by a precise Youssouf Fofana pass and Tijjani Reijnders dispatched a first-time shot into the top corner to break the deadlock.
Fonseca responded to going ahead with a defensive substitution and that allowed the momentum to shift towards the hosts, but breaking down the stubborn Milan backline was proving difficult going into the final ten minutes. Ultimately, a succession of fouls and stoppages prevented the Mastiffs from building any consistent pressure as they failed to find a way back into the game.
The three points bring AC Milan up to 7th as they move back within 5 points of the top 4, while Verona remain perched just one spot and one point above the drop zone with the hosts still searching for their first-ever head-to-head win (D2, L8).