Napoli secured a crucial 2-1 victory over AC Milan at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, remaining three points behind Serie A leaders Inter Milan.
Despite a dominant first-half performance, Antonio Conte’s team had to fend off a late surge from the visitors to secure the win.
Matteo Politano opened the scoring just two minutes into the match, delivering a precise strike from the edge of the box.
Napoli doubled their advantage in the 19th minute when Billy Gilmour’s incisive pass set up Romelu Lukaku, who found the net with his 11th league goal of the season.
AC Milan, sitting ninth in the standings, responded in the second half when Luka Jovic capitalized on a late chance to reduce the deficit in the 84th minute.
Earlier, Milan striker Santiago Gimenez saw his penalty saved by Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret. Despite several opportunities to equalize, including a near miss from Jovic in injury time, Milan could not find the breakthrough.
Milan faced additional challenges with Ruben Loftus-Cheek sidelined due to appendix surgery earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, Inter Milan maintained their top spot with a 2-1 win over Udinese, courtesy of goals from Marko Arnautovic and Davide Frattesi.
Atalanta’s title aspirations suffered another blow as they fell 1-0 to Fiorentina, leaving them nine points off the top.
Coach Gianpiero Gasperini admitted, “It was an impossible dream that disappeared against Inter,” but emphasized the importance of maintaining their advantage over chasing teams.
Napoli’s victory keeps the pressure on Inter in the race for the Scudetto, as the season edges closer to its climactic final stretch.
