Boateng seals Milan win

Zlatan Ibrahimovic set Milan on the road to a comfortable three points when he benefited from some slack defending in the visiting ranks to slam the ball under BATE goalkeeper Aleksandr Gutor on 33 minutes.

Kevin-Prince Boateng sealed the victory in the second period when his shot from over 20 yards out hit the underside of the bar before nestling in the net with Gutor rendered helpless as he dived in vain at full stretch.

Milan know a repeat scoreline in Belarus in a fortnight will secure their place in the last 16 with two games to spare.

With Barcelona picking up a 2-0 victory over Viktoria Plzen at the Camp Nou, Milan and Barca are well clear in Group H on seven points with BATE and Plzen on one point before the return legs of these fixtures on November 1.

It looks like the match between Milan and Barca on November 23 in Italy will decide who tops the group before the knock-out stages of the competition after Christmas.

BATE are not in the same class as Milan, but they could easily have struck the opening goal seconds before Ibrahimovic netted for the Italian champions.

Dutch midfielder Mark van Bommel gave the ball straight to Renan Bressan on 31 minutes, but he failed to slot the ball beyond Milan keeper Christian Abbiati, who dived to make a smart save from eight yards out.

It was little wonder he got a large pat on the back from the relieved Van Bommel.

Milan had dominated the early period of the match without finding a goal as Alberto Aquilani teased a volley over the bar on four minutes before seeing a neat shot crack off a post only to race to safety with Gutor stranded.

Ibrahimovic had tried to drill a shot over the head of Gutor from the halfway line on seven minutes. He knocked a shot narrowly over the bar 11 minutes later before settling the home side's nerves with a fine finish after BATE had failed to clear the danger before the break.

Milan made a sluggish start to the second period, but the visiting side could not find the goal they craved as Bressan hammered a volley over the target.

Maksim Bordachev then saw Abbiati claw a shot wide on 50 minutes before Milan regained control of the match by discovering some fresh energy in the closing 35 minutes or so of a contest that was always likely to end in a home win.

The Belarusian side have never won a Champions League game, registering four draws and fives defeats. On this evidence, the wait could go on for some time yet.