Notes On A 1-2 Loss To Napoli
Giroud 69′ ~ Politano 55′(P) Simeone 78′
Leao’s absence through suspension meant that Pioli had to make changes and the starting 11 was somewhat surprising featuring Saelemaekers, De Ketelaere and Krunic behind Giroud. Diaz and Messias were on the bench. Kjaer started in Kalulu’s place as well. Luciano Spalletti was suspended as well and Napoli coach was in the stands.
Early minutes showed both teams with intensity with little clear cut chances. Balls were falling to Giroud but the Frenchman was unable to find the target or to beat Alex Meret in the Napoli goal. A good such chance occurred in the 13th minute. As expected Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was troubling Milan and he forced Kjaer into a yellow.
Meret saved again from a Krunic header after a corner. Krunic had a counter chance soon after but the ball was lost in an exchange with Theo. Milan were doing well around the 30 minute mark and this included Calabria’s handling of the aforementioned Georgian winger.
Matteo Politano tested Maignan in the 36th minute and Napoli threatened again in the 41st but the overall control and better quality belonged to Milan. The 0-0 half time score could have been better.
Kalulu and Dest came on for Kjaer and Calabria with the two defenders on a yellow. Dest gave away a contested penalty soon after. VAR and pitch side monitor checked deemed Dest’s foot making contact with Kvaratskhelia’s foot. Politano converted the penalty while Maignan was not far from making a save. Nevertheless questions were asked about why Kjaer was starting and then subbed.
A good chance went nowhere when a Theo cross eluded all Milan attackers. Minutes later Brahim and Messias came on for Krunic and Saelemaekers. With his first involvement, Messias quick on a De Ketelaere pass forced a good Meret save.
Giroud tied the game. A good run up and pass to Theo resulted in a cross who found Giroud alone centrally near Napoli’s goal. The Frenchman diverted the ball in.
Napoli retook the lead. Substitute Giovanni Simeone’s accurate header beat Maignan. Mario Rui had provided an excellent cross which should have been defended better. It was the forward’s first goal for Napoli. Adli came on for De Ketelaere for a rare, so far, few minutes.
Kalulu hit the crossbar in the 86th minute. The defender won the ball, ran all the way up the pitch, received the Theo cross, beat Meret but not the bar. A late push did not provide a reward and Napoli took the three points. Milan had been unable to capitalize on minutes of superiority.