Serie A | Napoli 2-1 Milan: Rossoneri respond too late to disastrous start

Matteo Politano and Romelu Lukaku ensured Napoli keep the Scudetto race open, but the Santiago Gimenez failed penalty only adds to Milan woes.

The pressure was on both teams, as the Partenopei needed a victory to keep their Scudetto ambitions alive after one win from seven rounds, while the Rossoneri languished in ninth place. David Neres returned to the starting XI with the 4-3-3 formation, but Scott McTominay was out with flu and Leonardo Spinazzola injured. Yunus Musah sat out a ban, with Emerson Royal still injured, but Ruben Loftus-Cheek was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery to remove his appendix this afternoon and Rafael Leao benched.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

There were emotional scenes before kick-off, as legends Pocho Lavezzi, Antonio Careca and Alemao saluted fans, plus 14-year-old Napoli youth team player Diego De Vivo was remembered following his death this week.

It took just over 60 seconds to break the deadlock, as a Giovanni Di Lorenzo ball was floated over the top, Politano took on three Milan defenders and still managed to control to fire low into the near bottom corner from 14 yards.

WHAT A START FOR NAPOLI 💥

Mateo Politano smashes home a precise volley that beats Maignan at the near post to give the home side a 1-0 lead after only 63 seconds 💨

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Tammy Abraham tried to flick a Kyle Walker pull-back from the by-line, while Matteo Gabbia made a desperate block to stop David Neres tapping in the Di Lorenzo roll across the face of goal that had gone past Romelu Lukaku.

NAPOLI, ITALY – MARCH 30: Romelu Lukaku of Napoli scores his side second goal during the Serie A match between Napoli and AC Milan at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on March 30, 2025 in Napoli, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

Napoli did double their lead when Walker’s pass was intercepted by Billy Gilmour, who threaded through for Lukaku – kept onside by the former Manchester City full-back – to scuff the finish past Maignan from 14 yards.

LUKAKU 💥

The Belgian striker gets his 11th Serie A goal of the season, after being put on a plate by Billy Gilmour, to double Napoli’s lead!

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Maignan pushed an Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa half-volley out from under the bar, while on the stroke of half-time Joao Felix flicked on a free kick quickly for the Tijjani Reijnders effort into the wall.

Rafael Leao was introduced for the second half for Warren Bondo, dropping Reijnders into midfield, then Santiago Gimenez and Samuel Chukwueze after another 10 minutes.

Leao went on one of his trademark mazy runs with stepovers to skip away from both Stanislav Lobotka and Amir Rrahmani, but tried to set up Gimenez rather than go for goal.

Gimenez fired over from the edge of the area and Politano had a strike charged down from the David Neres pull-back.

Milan were given a lifeline back into the game when Philip Billing bundled into the back of Theo Hernandez for a penalty. However, Gimenez horribly scuffed the weak and central spot-kick, smothered by Alex Meret. That was the fourth out of nine penalties this season that Milan failed to convert in all competition.

PENALTY SAVED ❌

A weak effort from Gimenez is saved low by Meret, and Napoli keep their two goal advantage!

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Pavlovic’s ferocious long-range effort was palmed over the bar by Meret, but the Rossoneri finally got one back late on when Theo Hernandez rolled across from the left and Luka Jovic got there before Gimenez as they were sliding in to meet it from six yards. It was his first Serie A goal in almost a full calendar year.

AC MILAN PULL ONE BACK! ⚽️

An interesting last 10 minutes on our hands, as Jovic taps in Hernandez’s ball across the box. 2-1 👀

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It turned into a late siege from Milan, as Theo Hernandez’s assist was too close to Meret and Jovic fired just wide from the edge of the area.