Olivier Giroud’s early pair of headers gave Milan what appeared to be a comfortable lead, but Napoli’s Matteo Politano and Giacomo Raspadori pulled off some spectacular individual efforts to pull off a comeback and tie the game at 2-2.
In the previous campaign, Milan defeated Napoli four times, most notably in this match, where they won 4-0 and went on to eliminate Napoli from the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
A attempt by Yunus Musah was deflected into the path of Olivier Giroud, which forced Amir Rrahmani to make a desperate block. However, Pierre Kalulu had to leave the game after just 18 minutes due to a muscle problem, thus Marco Pellegrino had to make his Milan debut in order to keep the score level.
Despite this, the away team was the one to score first when Christian Pulisic sent in a cross from the right side with his left foot and Olivier Giroud timed his move perfectly to score with a glancing header. Alex Meret was unable to keep the ball out of the net with his one hand. Since the beginning of September, it was the veteran’s first goal in any kind of contest.
When Maignan flew outside the penalty area to make the tackle on Matteo Politano, he took a significant risk. After that, Kvaratskhelia rolled the ball across the face of the goal, but Politano was able to deflect it onto the side netting.
It was a mistake that cost Milan dearly because they were able to increase their lead with a goal that was quite identical to the first. This time, Davide Calabria’s cross from the right found Olivier Giroud, who fought off Amir Rrahmani and nodded the ball in from six yards out.
Tijjani Reijnders should have done a better job when he swept the ball over the bar the first time from the Theo Hernandez pull-back. After that, Giacomo Raspadori volleyed a Piotr Zielinski pull-back off target with his shot.
At the very last second of the first half, Milan came dangerously close to scoring a third goal, but Meret was able to save the shot by Musah that was aimed at the bottom of the near post.
At halftime, Napoli coach Rudi Garcia made three substitutions since his team was having a difficult time competing. He brought on Giovanni Simeone, Leo Ostigard, and Mathias Olivera, and he took Pulisic out of the game with a muscle injury.
It was a smart move since Politano scored an incredible solo goal almost soon after it, which brought them back into the game. He then flicked it over Pellegrino, cut back inside Theo Hernandez, and used his left foot to smash it into the roof of the goal from a tough angle.
After that, Politano passed the ball to Giovanni Di Lorenzo at the by-line, and the captain shot for the goal, which caused Maignan to make a save with his legs at the near post.
Another cross from Di Lorenzo was mishandled by Maignan, and Napoli was unable to capitalize on the opportunity. Simeone’s attempt to score was stopped by Fikayo Tomori’s decisive header, however.
Napoli completed the comeback for 2-2 with a magnificent free kick from Raspadori, but the Milan wall seemed to be in the incorrect place, as he curled it around the side into the near post. The pressure paid off, and the goal tied the game. Unbelievably, it was the first direct free kick goal scored in all of Serie A this entire season.
Leao finished off a give-and-go with Musah’s back-heel flick to drill low, which caused Meret to have to get on the ground and paw the ball around the base of the post.
Both Giroud and Leao were upset when they were taken out 10 minutes before the game’s end, but Napoli finished the match with only 10 players on the field after Natan was shown a second yellow card for making a late challenge on Romero.
In the dying moments of the match, Calabria came close to winning it for Milan, but his header at the far post went wide of the goal. Using his legs, Maignan was able to block the close-range shot that Kvaratskhelia took for Napoli with the very last kick of the game. Napoli had an excellent opportunity.
FOLLOW THIS ARTICLE ON TWITTER
READ MORE;
PSG 3-0 Milan : Rossoneri lost the battle at Paris
Inter 2-1 Salzburg: Nerrazzuri get important 3 points in UCL