AC Milan have sacked coach Vincenzo Montella and placed former club favourite Gennaro Gattuso in charge of first-team affairs.

The Rossoneri are in seventh place in Serie A, 18 points behind leaders Napoli.

The decision comes after Milan were held to a goalless draw by Torino at the weekend.

Here are four key Serie A matches in which he slipped up.

Lazio 4-1 AC Milan

September 10, 2017

An opening pasting of lowly Crotone was soon forgotten when Milan spectacularly failed their first genuine test of the season.

Italy striker Ciro Immobile was the star, scoring a fine hat-trick to swamp the big-spenders on a rain-soaked day in the capital.

Alarmingly, marquee recruit Leonardo Bonucci was at the heart of a bedraggled defence which was 4-0 down by 49 sorry minutes.

Montella cut a dejected figure on the Milan bench as Lazio thrashed his side.

Sampdoria 2-0 AC Milan

September 24, 2017

Any hope that a corner had been turned with three-successive victories in all competitions was extinguished on a chastening day in Genoa.

It was a family affair for the crucial 72nd-minute opener, centre forward Duvan Zapata taking advantage of a huge error from his cousin Cristian Zapata.

Milan were thoroughly lacklustre and Samp sealed a deserved win in injury time through Argentinian Ricky Alvarez.

While Sampdoria celebrated, Milan saw their three-game win streak end.

Internazionale 3-2 AC Milan

October 15, 2017

The fates continued to be against Montella. Milan performed well throughout in this first derby clash of the season, coming twice from behind during a night of high drama at their shared San Siro. Yet, a sting remained in the tail.

In the 90th minute, Switzerland defender Ricardo Rodriguez was harshly adjudged to have fouled Danilo D’Ambrosio.

This allowed Argentina hot shot Mauro Icardi to especially complete his hat-trick.

After losing to bitter rivals Inter, the writing was on the wall.

AC Mian 0-0 Torino

November 26, 2017

The pressure turned up to breaking point after this scoreless stalemate.

Croatia striker Nikola Kalinic hit the post early on, Portugal prospect Andre Silva endured a glaring miss and Torino goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu was in inspired form the second period.

These factors combined to make it four games without a goal at the San Siro, leaving the Rossoneri down in seventh – 11 points adrift of the hallowed Champions League spots.

Andre Silva’s miss against Torino helped push Montella out the door.