Napoli Triumph Over AC Milan to Stay in Serie A Title Hunt

 

Napoli Triumph Over AC Milan to Stay in Serie A Title Hunt

Napoli secured a crucial victory against AC Milan, keeping themselves just three points behind Serie A leaders Inter Milan.

Antonio Conte's side took early control, netting twice within the first 19 minutes but had to hold on as Milan mounted pressure late in the game.

Matteo Politano opened the scoring with a well-placed strike from the edge of the box, while Billy Gilmour set up Romelu Lukaku, who managed to scuff in Napoli's second goal.

Milan, currently ninth in the table, responded when Luka Jovic finished from close range after Santiago Gimenez saw his penalty saved by Alex Meret. Jovic had multiple chances to level the game, including a missed shot in stoppage time.

The visitors were missing English midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who underwent an appendectomy earlier that day.

Inter Maintain Lead, Atalanta Falter

Defending champions Inter Milan held onto their three-point lead with a 2-1 win over Udinese. Goals from Marko Arnautovic and Davide Frattesi secured the victory, while Oumar Solet pulled one back for Udinese.

Meanwhile, Atalanta suffered a 1-0 defeat against Fiorentina, with Moise Kean scoring the lone goal. Manager Gian Piero Gasperini admitted his side had already lost hope of winning the title before this match, as they now sit third, nine points adrift of Inter.

"It was an impossible dream that faded away after the match against Inter on March 16," Gasperini stated. "Now, teams below us are putting together strong runs, but we have a slight advantage and five home games left out of eight."