What a result for Milan as their players run to the away end to celebrate with their fans. Pioli's side have moved to the top of the table ahead of rivals Inter, thanks to Giroud's second-half strike. After a timid first half from both teams, the former Arsenal man opened the scoring in the 49th minute. Napoli failed to clear their lines from a free-kick, and Giroud converted Calabria's shot, which was going wide of the target. Both teams had their chances to score after the hour mark, but Maignan and Ospina were in inspired form in goal.
Milan's victory now means they lead Inter by two points, although their rivals do have a game in hand on them. Napoli remain in the title race, but they are three points behind Pioli's men. Napoli face Verona next time out, while Milan will take on Empoli.
That is all for tonight folks, thanks for joining us. Goodbye!
Cronaca
Formazioni
Statistiche
90'+6'
FULL-TIME - NAPOLI 0-1 MILAN.22:44
90'+5'
CLOSE! Milan should have this game wrapped up, but Ospina has denied Pioli's side a second goal at the death. A quick counter-attack led to a glorious chance for Saelemaekers, but the substitute wasted his one-on-one opportunity as Ospina flicked his shot over the crossbar. 23:18
90'+3'
Florenzi is the latest player to be booked after a sloppy challenge near the halfway line. 22:42
90'+2'
After tripping Rebic and stopping a counter-attack, Ounas is shown a yellow card.22:41
90'+1'
We are going to get five minutes of added time in Naples!22:39
90'
Pioli tries to take more time off the clock as he sends on Ibrahimovic in place of Rafael Leao. 22:39
87'
SUPERB SAVE! Ospina keeps his side in the game as he flies across his goal to claw Hernandez's shot away from the top corner. That goes in, and it is game over. Milan thought they had done enough on the counter-attack, but Hernandez was denied in the end. 22:36
86'
SAVE! Osimhen races through on goal and tries to score from the tightest of angles, only to see Maignan stick his chest in the way at the near post. 22:35
85'
The Napoli crowd are starting to get a little frustrated, but their constant boos and jeers are having no effect on the Milan players. 22:34
83'
Maignan is shown a yellow card for time wasting.22:35
82'
Lozano is given less than ten minutes to impress, with Lobotka making way!22:33
82'
Spalletti tries to add some extra fight to his midfield, with Anguissa now at the heart of midfield instead of Zielinski. 22:33
80'
Despite picking up an assist, Calabria is now replaced by Florenzi. 22:31
79'
After a quiet night at the office, Messias makes way for Saelemaekers.06:37
77'
Osimhen protests, but he is also shown a yellow card for dissent.22:27
77'
Hernandez is shown a yellow card for his part in the disagreement.22:26
77'
The referee stops the game after a coming together between Osimhen and Hernandez, and they could both be in trouble. 22:26
76'
Spalletti makes another change in midfield as Mertens replaces Ruiz.22:25
72'
WIDE! Elmas has only just come onto the pitch, so he should be forgiven for an awful attempt towards goal. Napoli striker Osimhen teed him up on the edge of the box, only to see Elmas kick the floor before he tried to find the bottom corner. In the end, his shot ended up closer to the corner flag than the goal! 22:21
70'
Both coaches have rolled the dice, but Pioli will still be delighted with his team's defensive display. Maignan has had one save to make in the second half! 22:19
68'
Giroud is back on his feet, but he will now watch the rest of the game from the bench, with Rebic getting the chance to impress.22:18
67'
Pioli makes a change in midfield, with Krunic replacing Tonali!04:09
67'
Skipper Insigne is also replaced, with Elmas the one to replace him.22:17
67'
Spalletti's first substitution sees Ounas replace Politano, who has been a passenger in the game.22:17
65'
Milan have an injury to worry about here as Giroud has gone down holding his ankle, and it looks painful, with replays suggesting he rolled it while trying to make his way into the Napoli box. 22:16
63'
Spalletti looks to be turning to his bench, and he will need an immediate impact from his subs, with less than 30 minutes remaining. 22:17
61'
Giroud has now scored his eighth goal this season; no Milan player has more in the Italian Serie A.22:10
58'
Napoli are still enjoying plenty of possession, but Spalletti's men are not making enough ground if they want to equalise in the next few minutes. 22:09
55'
SAVE! Ospina comes to the rescue for Napoli as he tips Bennacer's curling shot wide of the post, although he does concede a corner. 22:04
53'
Thanks to Giroud's second-half strike, Milan have now scored in their last 17 Italian Serie A away games. 22:04
51'
CHANCE! Napoli appear to have woken up after falling behind, but Osimhen sees his powerful shot saved by Maignan.22:01
49'
Calabria gets the assist, but the Milan fullback can consider himself a little lucky, as it looked like a shot at first, one that was going well wide of the target.22:00
49'
GOAAALLL - NAPOLI 0-1 MILAN - Lift off for Milan!! Giroud fires his team into the lead after a free-kick was not dealt with by Napoli. The ball was only cleared to the edge of the box, allowing Calabria to go for goal. The right-back scuffed his shot into the path of Giroud, who poked his effort past Ospina, and we finally have our first goal of the evening.
Neither Spalletti nor Pioli decided to make a change at the break, but they may be waiting for the next 15 minutes to unfold before deciding their next move. 21:58
46'
We are back underway!21:55
There was only one shot on target between either side, but Rafael Leao's shot rolled into the hands of Ospina, so it almost feels like cheating to class that as a decent opportunity. Hopefully, both coaches can get into their players, and we will see a much better second half. 21:40
The first 45 minutes comes to an end, and there is almost a sense of relief inside the stadium. Nothing has worked for Napoli, and in fairness, the same can be said for Milan. Both teams have fought so hard for every ball, but it has meant neither goalkeeper has made a save. Rrahmani's volley inside the first three minutes was the closest either team came to scoring21:43
45'+4'
HALF-TIME - NAPOLI 0-0 MILAN.21:36
45'
Four minutes of stoppage time to come at the end of the first half!21:32
42'
The half-time interval may come at the perfect time for both sides, as both coaches will get the chance to have a word with their players. Defensively, both teams have shown real quality, but it has not been a great spectacle so far!21:32
39'
Giroud will feel hard done by on that occasion, as he made a legitimate challenge for the ball, but as we all know, you cannot touch the goalkeeper in the modern game. 21:27
39'
Ospina now goes down injured, and he will need treatment after colliding with Giroud inside the penalty box. 21:26
37'
Rrahmani joins team-mate Koulibaly in the referee's book after a strong challenge on Hernandez near the halfway line. 21:24
35'
We expected a cagey and close encounter, and that is precisely what we have had so far. Neither side wants to give the other an inch, and that is not surprising considering what is at stake. 21:25
32'
Although this game has gone quickly, and the atmosphere has been superb... very little has actually happened. Neither goalkeeper has made a meaningful save, but we still have 15 minutes until half-time for that to change. 21:26
30'
Milan are struggling for creativity in midfield, and even though Giroud has shaken off his ankle injury, he has barely had a touch of the ball. 21:19
27'
Giroud's ankle is now heavily strapped, and he is not moving too freely. We will keep our eye on his injury to see if he can continue. 21:14
25'
The match has yet to resume as Giroud stayed down after that challenge, and he is complaining of an ankle injury. 21:12
24'
Koulibaly is shown a yellow card after a clumsy challenge on Giroud.21:12
23'
No need to panic Napoli fans, he is back on the field! 21:10
22'
Osimhen goes down with an injury following an aerial collision, and the referee allows the physios to make their way onto the field.21:10
21'
CLOSE! Osimhen fires wide of the near post, but that is another sign that he is growing in confidence as he tries to break the deadlock in Napoli's favour.21:09
19'
False alarm everybody! Milan ruin their chances of scoring as the referee spots a foul on Ospina, with Kalulu adjudged to have pushed him over.21:33
18'
Milan show signs of improvement as they win their first corner of the night. 21:05
14'
The referee stops proceedings again as Pioli has once again got on the wrong side of him. That could be his last warning, and we are not even 15 minutes into this game. 21:01
14'
Tomori gets up to clear on the edge of the six-yard box, and it remains 0-0 in Naples. 21:00
13'
Osimhen is crunched inside the penalty box by Tomori, but despite Napoli's appeals, the referee signals for a corner. 21:00
11'
The home side have made a better start, and their fans are making sure they can be heard. Milan look a little stunned at the moment, but it should not take them long to regroup!20:58
8'
Napoli win another corner, but the game is brought to a halt because the referee has just shown Pioli a yellow card on the Milan bench. 20:55
5'
Milan midfielder Bennacer goes down in the penalty box, but the referee waved away any penalty appeals! 20:55
4'
Every time a Milan player gets a touch of the ball, boos and whistles can be heard in Naples. This could be a tough night for Pioli's men at the office, but I am sure they expected it. 20:52
2'
CHANCE! The home side make a flying start to the contest after winning an early corner, but they failed to take advantage as Rrahmani blazed over from inside the penalty area. Milan fell asleep at the near post, allowing Spalletti's side to take a short corner, but Insigne's cross was volleyed over the bar by the Napoli centre-back. 20:50
1'
We are under way in Naples! 21:05
The two teams are now out on the field of play, and kick-off is moments away! 20:43
Milan have won only one of their last 14 Serie A meetings with Napol, and in this period, they have suffered eight defeats, including losing each of the previous two.20:31
Spalletti makes just one change to his side after Napoli's 2-1 win over Lazio, as Lobotka replaces Demme in the starting XI. Stefano Pioli makes four alterations to his team after their 0-0 draw against Inter as Florenzi, Romagnoli, Krunic, and Saelemaekers make way for Calabria, Kalulu, Tonali and Messias.21:34
SUBS: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Daniel Maldini, Ciprian Tatarusanu, Alexis Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz, Antonio Mirante, Rade Krunic, Ante Rebic, Matteo Gabbia, Samu Castillejo, Fode Ballo-Toure, Alessandro Florenzi.20:30
MILAN (4-2-3-1): Mike Maignan; Davide Calabria, Fikayo Tomori, Pierre Kalulu, Theo Hernandez; Ismael Bennacer, Sandro Tonali; Junior Messias, Franck Kessie, Rafael Leao; Olivier Giroud.21:34
SUBS: Eljif Elmas, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Alex Meret, Juan Jesus, Andrea Petagna, Alessandro Zanoli, Adam Ounas, Hirving Lozano, Faouzi Ghoulam, Diego Demme, Dries Mertens, Davide Marfella.20:28
NAPOLI (4-2-3-1): David Ospina; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Amir Rrahmani, Kalidou Koulibaly, Mario Rui; Fabian Ruiz, Stanislav Lobotka; Matteo Politano, Piotr Zielinski, Lorenzo Insigne; Victor Osimhen.20:27
Napoli may have lost 4-2 to Barcelona recently, but in the league, they are unbeaten in eight matches under Luciano Spalletti. Milan are also in good form of late, and they have not tasted defeat in seven games in all competitions. 20:25
Inter currently top the pile after their 5-0 win over Salernitana on Friday night, but whoever wins tonight's tie will move to the summit of Serie A. 20:19
Good evening and welcome to tonight's live coverage of the Serie A clash between Napoli and Milan. The two teams are fighting it out towards the top of the league table, and we could be in for an action-packed night of football.20:16
Dove si gioca la partita:
Stadio: Diego Armando Maradona Città: Napoli Capienza: 60240 spettatori20:16
Napoli - Milan is a match of 28 day of the season Serie A 2021/2022. The match will be 6 march at 20:50 in the stadium Diego Armando Maradona in Napoli.
Currently Napoli is 1° in the standings with 57 points (thanks of 17 wins, 6 draws and 4 defeats); while Milan is 2° in the standings with 57 points (thanks of 17 wins, 6 pareggi and 4 sconfitte). Napoli scored 49 goals and conceded 19; Milan scored 53 goals and conceded 29. The first leg Milan - Napoli was played on 19 december 2021 and it ended on a 0-1 score.
At home Napoli scored 26 points (8 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses). Away Milan scored 30 points (9 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss). Napoli in the last three matches of the season challenged Inter, Cagliari and Lazio obtaining 5 points thanks to 1 win, 2 draws and 0 losses. Milan in the last three matches of the season challenged Sampdoria, Salernitana and Udinese obtaining 5 points thanks to 1 win, 2 draws and 0 losses. In the last match Napoli was against Lazio winning 1-2 while Milan was against Udinese evening 1-1. The best scorer of the team coached by Luciano Spalletti is Lorenzo Insigne with 7 goals while the best scorer of the team coached by Stefano Pioli is Zlatan Ibrahimovic with 8 goals.
Napoli and Milan competed 147 times in the league. In the previous matches Napoli won 44 times, Milan won 55 times while the number of draw was 48.
These are the statistics of the two teams in the matches played in the season:
