DONETSK, Ukraine (AFP) - Champions League holders AC Milan shrugged off their modest domestic form to beat Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0 here on Tuesday and put one foot into the last 16.
Filippo Inzaghi unlocked the game for the Italians when producing a second half double and setting up Kaka for the third goal to lift Milan to the top of Group D with two games remaining.
The defending champions have failed to live up to their billing as conquerors of Europe on the domestic front where they lie ninth behind their city rivals Inter, but Carlo Ancelotti's men are enjoying better fortune in this competition.
Ancelotti praised Inzaghi's contribution, saying: "The match had become static and then Inzaghi's goal opened it up. They (Shahktar) became unbalanced and then reacted but that opened up space for us.
"Inzaghi has put in a lot of work recently even if we haven't given him many opportunities to play. He's been very professional. He was very good in the way he prepared for this game."
As for Ronaldo, who did not get a chance to leave the dug out Ancelotti added: "When you look at the way the match panned out I was wise. With this cold it wouldn't have been the best thing to make him play. He'll have the time and the opportunity to show himself later."
The Italians had the bulk of possession in the first half but were unable to unlock Shakhtar's tight defence and went into the break all square, that scoreline parity even reflected on the bookings front with Dutch referee Peter Vink dishing out two apiece.
One of the best chances of the period fell to Shakhtar when Alessandro Nesta was forced to fling himself at Cristiano Lucarelli's feet to charge down his shot with Dida getting a fingertip to Darijo Srna's follow-up that flashed across the face of goal.
With Ronaldo watching from the subs bench on his first European appearance for the club Milan exploded into life in the second half.
Inzaghi, three minutes after coming onto the pitch to replace Alberto Gilardino in the 66th minute, eventually got the goal their domination deserved when he latched on to a clever defence-splitting throughball from Andrea Pirlo to shoot past Andriy Pyatov.
Six minutes later Inzaghi was at the centre of the second goal when he chested a high ball down in the box for Kaka to shoot in by the far post and he wrapped up the game with his second in the third minute of injury time to draw level with Muller's record haul.
The veteran 34-year-old was taking his tally to 62 goals in Europe to draw him level with all time leader Gerd 'Das Bomber' Muller.
'SuperPippo', a World Cup winner with Italy last year, already has two European titles to his name with Milan in 2003 and last season when he was responsible for the two goals that downed Liverpool 2-1 in Athens.
The game was preceded by a minute's silence to mark the passing of Milan's Swedish legend Nils Liedholm, who died at the weekend at the age of 85.
Filippo Inzaghi unlocked the game for the Italians when producing a second half double and setting up Kaka for the third goal to lift Milan to the top of Group D with two games remaining.
The defending champions have failed to live up to their billing as conquerors of Europe on the domestic front where they lie ninth behind their city rivals Inter, but Carlo Ancelotti's men are enjoying better fortune in this competition.
Ancelotti praised Inzaghi's contribution, saying: "The match had become static and then Inzaghi's goal opened it up. They (Shahktar) became unbalanced and then reacted but that opened up space for us.
"Inzaghi has put in a lot of work recently even if we haven't given him many opportunities to play. He's been very professional. He was very good in the way he prepared for this game."
As for Ronaldo, who did not get a chance to leave the dug out Ancelotti added: "When you look at the way the match panned out I was wise. With this cold it wouldn't have been the best thing to make him play. He'll have the time and the opportunity to show himself later."
The Italians had the bulk of possession in the first half but were unable to unlock Shakhtar's tight defence and went into the break all square, that scoreline parity even reflected on the bookings front with Dutch referee Peter Vink dishing out two apiece.
One of the best chances of the period fell to Shakhtar when Alessandro Nesta was forced to fling himself at Cristiano Lucarelli's feet to charge down his shot with Dida getting a fingertip to Darijo Srna's follow-up that flashed across the face of goal.
With Ronaldo watching from the subs bench on his first European appearance for the club Milan exploded into life in the second half.
Inzaghi, three minutes after coming onto the pitch to replace Alberto Gilardino in the 66th minute, eventually got the goal their domination deserved when he latched on to a clever defence-splitting throughball from Andrea Pirlo to shoot past Andriy Pyatov.
Six minutes later Inzaghi was at the centre of the second goal when he chested a high ball down in the box for Kaka to shoot in by the far post and he wrapped up the game with his second in the third minute of injury time to draw level with Muller's record haul.
The veteran 34-year-old was taking his tally to 62 goals in Europe to draw him level with all time leader Gerd 'Das Bomber' Muller.
'SuperPippo', a World Cup winner with Italy last year, already has two European titles to his name with Milan in 2003 and last season when he was responsible for the two goals that downed Liverpool 2-1 in Athens.
The game was preceded by a minute's silence to mark the passing of Milan's Swedish legend Nils Liedholm, who died at the weekend at the age of 85.
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