Scorers: Crespo 63 (M), Pirlo pen 71 (M)

Bruno Conti's Roma debut is ruined by his old Giallorossi teammate Carlo Ancelotti as Milan notch up their eighth consecutive Serie A win.

Conti made his Serie A debut as a Coach against his old friend and former Giallorossi teammate Carlo Ancelotti, but this was also a game neither could afford to lose. Milan needed three points to stay top of the table alongside Juventus, while Roma were losing sight of the European spots following their third consecutive defeat.

Luigi Del Neri resigned on Monday and Conti was expected to leave Antonio Cassano on the bench in favour of Amantino Mancini, but he went for an attacking line-up with Francesco Totti behind the front two rather than as part of a trident attack. Philippe Mexes, Traianos Dellas and Daniele De Rossi were suspended, while both goalkeepers were injured. Conti's actual debut was Wednesday's 1-0 loss at Fiorentina, but the Giallorossi still qualified for the Coppa Italia semi-finals on penalties.

Milan had to do without the injured Alessandro Nesta and Andriy Shevchenko, while Serginho was on the bench despite suffering from flu. The 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Udinese in the Coppa Italia midweek ended a run of nine consecutive victories in all competitions, but they were still looking for an eight Serie A win on the trot.

Roma had a strong start with Montella firing two good chances wide of the target, then Totti failed to complete a fine passing move with the Aeroplanino and there were timid penalty appeals for a shirt-tug on the captain.

Montella skipped past defenders after 11 minutes and his relatively weak effort was gathered by Dida.

But it was Milan who went closest soon after, as Kaka redirected Andrea Pirlo's free kick and forced Gianluca Curci into a tough reaction save at the near post. It was only the 19-year-old goalkeeper's second Serie A appearance.

Francesco Totti curled a free kick over the bar and Jaap Stam performed a crucial intervention to prevent Cassano's cross reaching Montella.

Moments later, Jon Dahl Tomasson's first touch let him down on a Clarence Seedorf floated pass and Curci was able to smother the ball.

Kaka also failed to get a firm touch on Crespo's pass and Cristian Chivu was able to dive in for a corner kick. The Brazilian also had a long-range shot comfortably blocked by Curci.

Dida intercepted some marvellous duetting between Cassano and Totti, while the captain curled a low free kick round the defensive wall and the goalkeeper did well not to be taken by surprise.

Milan's best chance of the game so far arrived two minutes into the second half, as Crespo held off his marker to latch on to Seedorf's pass and pulled the trigger, but Curci bravely stayed on his feet and was able to charge down the shot with his legs.

Cafu was booked for a two-footed tackle on Leandro Cufre and the Argentine was stretchered off with a large hole in his shin, making way for teenager Scurto. Cafu was perhaps fortunate to remain on the pitch, as it was an extremely dangerous challenge.

Gennaro Gattuso unleashed a powerful strike from 25 metres that went a few inches over the crossbar as Milan began to take more of an initiative in this second half.

On the hour mark Roma had a fantastic scoring opportunity, but Kakha Kaladze timed his tackle perfectly to stop Montella in the area, then Dida smothered Totti's follow-up.

There were timid penalty appeals for Matteo Ferrari's challenge on Tomasson soon after.

Amantino Mancini was expected to start in place of Cassano, but when the Brazilian finally did come on it was for Montella and Roma switched to a 4-4-2 system.

The deadlock was eventually broken on 63 minutes. Kaladze found space down the left and curled in a cross for Hernan Crespo's floating header into the far corner of the net.

Tomasson was rightly booked for a frankly embarrassing dive in the area when he had lost his moment to put in a cross for Crespo.

Moments later Curci showed he will hang on to this Roma starting spot with another splendid save, beating away Kaka's volley from a corner kick and then capturing Seedorf's second attempt.

There was some fine play when Kaladze and Kaka exchanged passes around the six-yard box and the Brazilian fired just wide.

Seedorf charged into the box and floated in a cross for Crespo, whose header was kept out of the net by Christian Panucci's arm. The former Milan defender was sent off and Andrea Pirlo stepped up to convert the penalty.

Pippo Inzaghi replaced Crespo for the final 17 minutes, while Gattuso had another long-range effort blocked by Curci. Massimo Ambrosini took over from Tomasson, switching Seedorf to a Trequartista role alongside Kaka.

Kaka had another shot blocked by Curci and Stam's wayward defensive header almost led to an own goal.

Totti was clearly frustrated at the impending defeat and was shown a second yellow card for a pointless foul on Ambrosini in midfield.

Milan cruised towards their victory and matched the club record with their 11th away win of the season.

Roma: Curci; Panucci, Chivu, Ferrari, Cufrè (Scurto 51); Aquilani, Perrotta, Dacourt; Totti; Cassano, Montella (Mancini 62)

Milan: Dida; Cafu, Maldini, Stam, Kaladze (Costacurta 90); Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf; Kaka; Crespo (Inzaghi 73), Tomasson (Ambrosini 81)

Ref: Paparesta

Sent off: Panucci 70 (R), Totti 90 (R)
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