First-half goals from Matteo Politano and Romelu Lukaku earned Napoli a 2-1 victory over visitor AC Milan on Sunday to move three points behind Serie A leader Inter Milan.
Napoli, which came into the contest with only one win in its last seven league matches, has 64 points, six clear of third-placed Atalanta, which lost at Fiorentina earlier on Sunday. Defending champion Inter beat Udinese 2-1 at home.
“It was important to win. We started strongly, in the first half we could have scored a third goal. In the second half, we suffered a bit, but that’s to be expected,“ Politano told DAZN.
“We have to take it one game at a time, we believe in ourselves. We want to give these fantastic fans something to cheer about.”
Politano opened the scoring 63 seconds into the match, pouncing on some sloppy Milan defending to power a long-range effort into the bottom corner.
Lukaku doubled the lead in the 19th minute, scoring his 400th professional goal with a scuffed shot past goalkeeper Mike Maignan following a great interception and pass by Billy Gilmour.
“400 goals is a lot, today’s win was very important. We prepared for the match in one way, but this morning, the coach changed the plans,“ Lukaku said after also netting his 11th Serie A goal this season.
“We suffered a little too much in the second half, but we got the win, and that’s good. Ours was a good response, we have to fight until the end.”
Antonio Conte’s side could have inflicted further damage, but Maignan denied Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s half-volley after the midfielder had already gone close earlier with a back-heeled effort that went wide.
The visitors, who barely managed a shot on target until the second half, wasted a golden chance to pull one back in the 69th minute when Santiago Gimenez’s poor penalty was saved by Alex Meret after Philip Billing had been penalised for a foul on Theo Hernandez.
Yet Milan grew into the game, with Strahinja Pavlovic’s long-range effort being saved by Meret before Luka Jovic finally put them on the scoresheet six minutes from time, sliding to tap in Hernandez’s cross.
Milan pushed for a stoppage-time equaliser but ultimately suffered their 13th league defeat, leaving them ninth with 47 points, as pressure mounts on coach Sergio Conceicao amid a poor run of results that has left them nine points off the Champions League qualification spots.
AC Milan midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek had successful appendectomy surgery after being diagnosed with acute appendicitis, the Serie A club said on Sunday.
Local media reported that during Milan’s training camp in Napoli, the England international experienced severe abdominal pain that necessitated hospitalisation for further investigation.
Tests confirmed the diagnosis, prompting the operation, which went well, the club said in a statement.
Further details on Loftus-Cheek’s condition have not been provided.
