Olivier Giroud Bags Hat Trick As AC Milan Thrash Sampdoria 5-1

Olivier Giroud bags hat-trick as AC Milan thrash already-relegated Sampdoria 5-1 in the Italian Serie A on Saturday, earning Stefano Pioli’s side a much-needed morale boost.

Rafael Leao opened the scoring in the ninth minute before Sampdoria found an equalizer.

But three goals from Giroud and a Brahim Diaz strike sealed a convincing win for the recently-stumbling AC Milan.

They remain fifth on 64 points and have provisionally cut the gap with fourth-placed Lazio to one point before Maurizio Sarri’s men travel to Udinese on Sunday.

AC Milan was knocked out of the UEFA Champions League earlier this week by Inter Milan in the semi-finals.

That was after falling to a shock 2-0 Serie A loss by lowly Spezia last weekend.

Now, they displayed a confidence they lately lacked.

“It was good to let go of the disappointment suffered with the elimination from the Champions League,” Pioli disclosed in an interview.

“We played a good match, scoring many goals. It can only do us good.”

AC Milan travels to Juventus on May 28 before they end the season with a home game against lowly Hellas Verona the following weekend.