ROME (AFP) -- AC Milan scraped an undeserved 2-1 victory at Cagliari on Sunday as a stunning Andrea Pirlo free-kick five minutes from time stole the points.

Milan were out of sorts despite Brazil star Ronaldo making his first appearance of the season and could easily have lost the match.
Instead they rose to ninth in the Serie A table and closed the gap on city rivals Inter Milan at the top to 11 points.
Cagliari stunned the European Champions after just four minutes as Robert Acquafresca rose above Italy fullback Massimo Oddo to head home a corner.
Milan did little to suggest they would find a way back into the game before the break but were handed a lifeline with a soft penalty award.
Ronaldo blatantly dived in the box after the slightest tug of his shirt from marker Paolo Bianco when yards from the ball but the referee pointed to the spot.
Justice was served, though, as goalkeeper Marco Fortin plunged to his right to beat out playmaker Kaka's penalty, with veteran defender Paolo Maldini slicing the follow-up wide.
Milan did get back on level terms on the hour mark as Alberto Gilardino made the most of slack home defending to poke the ball home.
Acquafresca came within inches of restoring Cagliari's lead just moments later but after he skipped past Dida in the Milan goal, Daniele Bonera got back to clear his effort off the line.
Udinese continued their Champions League charge with a 2-0 home win over Siena that moved them up to third, level on points with second-placed Roma, who won 1-0 at Genoa on Saturday.
Italy pair Fabio Quagliarella and Antonio Di Natale scored either side of half-time to earn Udinese their fourth win in five games, extending their unbeaten run to eight matches.
Fiorentina dropped to fourth after a listless 0-0 draw at Reggina that has hit their title hopes.
Lowly Livorno continued their resurrection with a 3-1 win at home to Sampdoria, their third win in four games.
The game was all but decided inside the first 10 minutes after goals from Dario Knezevic and Francesco Tavano put the hosts in command.
A late strike from Claudio Bellucci gave Sampdoria hope before Tavano's second sealed the win two minutes from time.
In Rome Lazio's hardcore fans turned up 20 minutes late for their 1-0 win over Parma as a show of solidarity for fan Gabriele Sandri, who was shot dead by a policeman two weeks ago.
Fabio Firmani scored a dramatic last-minute winner for the hosts with a deflected shot that was initially going wide.
On Saturday, backup strikers Julio Cruz and David Suazo tore Atalanta apart as champions Inter stretched their lead at the top of the Serie A table to three points with a narrow 2-1 victory.
Cruz set up Suazo for a 10th-minute opener and the Honduran repaid the compliment to his Argentine strike partner on the half hour mark.
Atalanta scored the goal of the game, though, as Sergio Flocarri took the ball on his chest on the edge of the penalty box, swiveled and hit a dipping volley into the top corner six minutes from the break.