29 October 2023: Looking to carry the momentum from last weekend's domination of Juventus on the trip south to the Stadio Diego Maradona, where the reigning scudetto holders await . . . .
Napoli (4-3-3): Meret; Natan (Olivera 79), Rrahmani, Rui, Di Lorenzo; Lobotka, Zielinksi, Elmas (Cajuste 46); Raspadori, Politano (Simeone 70), Kvaratskheila
Milan (4-3-3): Maignan; Tomori, Kalulu, Calabria, Hernandez; Krunic, Musah (Adli 83), Reijnders; Pulisic, Leao (Jovic 70), Giroud (Okafor 87)
The rossoneri certainly came into the match with high hopes, after playing perhaps their best match of the season last time out and seeing the title holders' early-season struggles, but this week they were not the side to go out and grab the match by the scruff of the neck. First, inside of ten minutes, a moment of indecision by Kalulu allowed Elmas to beat him to a loose ball in the area and curl the ball around Maignan for a Napoli goal. Then it was a moment of individual brilliance ten minutes later that saw Kvaratskheila take on Hernandez in full flight, beat him to the center of the pitch, and slam one off the post and into the goal. Milan showed some fight at this point, as the chants echoing across the Maradona had not even yet died down before Pulisic had flicked in Leao's corner to cut the home edge in half. An entertaining opening half was drawing towards a close when Hernandez was victimized again, this time being forced to pull down Rui in the area after the Portuguese left back had crossed through the top of the area unmarked, and Politano then drilled home the spot kick. But, again, the red-and-blacks found a response - in a near-carbon copy of their first goal, Leao put a flighted ball right into the path of Pulisic in full stride and he directed it past Meret to pull matters back to 3-2 at the intermission.
Any spark that Milan would have taken into the changing room from the late goal was quickly doused when, in the second minute after the restart, Politano juked onto a square ball from Lobotka and fired home for Napoli's fourth goal. The title holders gradually strangled the game to death from that point forward, with Milan getting less and less of the ball even as their need grew, and they slumped off the field after another disappointing (in form, at least as much as in result) defeat. [scoresheet]
Up and down, up and down, one world-beating performance followed by one calamity . . . what is this Milan side, exactly?
Men of the Match:
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Matteo Politano (Napoli)
⭐️⭐️ Mário Rui (Napoli)
⭐️ Khvicha Kvaratskheila (Napoli)
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