AC Milan showed grit and character as they overcame Napoli 2-1 at San Siro, playing the final half-hour with 10 men to extend their fine run in this fixture and move joint-top of the Serie A table alongside Napoli and Roma, Softfootball reports.
The Rossoneri flew out of the blocks and were ahead within three minutes. Christian Pulisic, who has been in blistering form since the start of the season, burst past Luca Marianucci and squared for Alexis Saelemaekers to slot home at the far post. Napoli, fresh from a 3-2 win over Pisa last Monday,responded with chances of their own, but Mike Maignan was sharp to deny both Miguel Gutiérrez and Scott McTominay in quick succession.
Milan weren’t done, and soon doubled their lead. Strahinja Pavlović found Youssouf Fofana, whose clever one-touch layoff set up Pulisic to strike via a deflection off Juan Jesus his fourth of the campaign, making him Serie A’s leading scorer. Saelemaekers went close to a second, while Giovanni Di Lorenzo and André-Frank Zambo Anguissa squandered chances at the other end, keeping Napoli in the game at the break.
The second half, however, brought fresh drama. Maignan initially saved Anguissa’s header but fumbled the rebound into Di Lorenzo’s path, forcing Pervis Estupiñán into a desperate foul that saw him sent off and Napoli awarded a penalty. Kevin De Bruyne, Napoli’s big summer signing from Manchester City, calmly converted to halve the deficit. De Bruyne had been the hero in their last league outing, and his arrival has already lifted Napoli’s belief , but this time Milan were determined not to collapse.
Forced to sacrifice Pulisic for Davide Bartesaghi, Allegri’s men dug in deep. Adrien Rabiot embodied that resilience, throwing himself in front of Eljif Elmas’ effort, before Luka Modrić’s deflection sent David Neres’ shot crashing against the woodwork. Even with Fikayo Tomori limping off late on, Milan refused to buckle, holding on through seven minutes of added time.
After the game, Ac Milan via its official X handle, shared exclusive photos of the players with joy on their faces thanking the Rossoneri fans for their support as the team managed to hold on to all three points against current league champions after going down 10 men at some point in the game, see post below;
The final whistle sparked huge celebrations, as Milan claimed a fourth straight league win under Massimiliano Allegri and ended Napoli’s 16-game unbeaten Serie A streak ,the longest of its kind across Europe’s top five leagues, this was also Napoli second loss of the season across all competitions after losing 2-0 to Manchester city in the opening game of the Uefa Champions league this season.
Napoli will be looking to bounce back to wining ways as they turn their focus to Europe elite club competition where they will be facing Portuguese champions Sporting CP at home in matchday two.
