Massimo Ambrosini came to the rescue with a first-half goal to give a lacklustre AC Milan a narrow victory against Atalanta this morning.

Ambrosini's 40th-minute header from Kaka's corner was the difference between the sides at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium.

The outcome marked Milan's seventh consecutive win at home and saw the Rossoneri climb to fifth in the standings, three points behind Lazio, who hold the last Champions League qualifying spot.

Lazio play later today against Empoli.

The Rossoneri controlled the opening half but were on the back foot from then on, with the Bergamaschi desperate to end their seven-game winless run.

Carlo Ancelotti's men went into the encounter looking to bounce back from last weekend's 2-1 derby defeat at Internazionale, which marked their first Serie A loss since November.

The hosts had a goal disallowed early on, with Ricardo Oliveira finding himself in an offside position before firing into the back of the net.

The visitors responded with a fast counter attack which saw Ferreira Pinto's cross from the right find an unmarked Marino Defendi, whose header went wide.

Milan continued to surge forward and Ambrosini missed a golden chance to put his team in front with six minutes played.

Massimo Oddo's cross found Ambrosini at the far post whose acrobatic kick went high over the crossbar.

In the 17th minute, Massimo Donati's right-footed strike forced goalkeeper Dida to dive to his right and make the stop.

Midway through the first half, Atalanta goalkeeper Alex Calderoni twice denied close-range efforts from Ronaldo and Oliveira.

Calderoni's next save was more spectacular, with the keeper at full stretch to clear Oliveira's right-footed effort from inside the area.

But there was little the keeper could do to deny Milan taking the lead five minutes before half-time.

Ambrosini got past his marker to latch onto Kaka's corner and his powerful header towards the far post gave the custodian no chance.

The Bergamaschi showed more aggression after the re-start, forcing Milan to play in their own half.

Cristiano Doni almost equalised on 53 minutes with a powerful header that flew just wide.

At the other end, Oliveira warmed the hands of Calderoni with a right-footed strike from the edge of the area.

Atalanta continued to surge forward and looked to have equalised with Simone Loria's header from Antonio Bernadini's dangerous cross going just wide of the far post.

Milan were quite happy to sit on their lead, leaving Atalanta to take the initiative.

The visitors almost took advantage with Fernando Tissone twice trying his luck from the distance but both his efforts went wide, much to Dida's relief.

With 10 minutes left to play, Ancelotti replaced Ronaldo with Alberto Gilardino, in the hope the Italian striker would put the game beyond their rivals' reach.

Gilardino almost succeeded with the striker getting past his marker and firing on target only for his effort to be saved by Calderoni as time ran out for Atalanta.