TV: Milan fell in the summit

Napoli and Milan started the Serie A season strong and were for a long time first and second respectively in the table. Injuries and dips in form in both teams, at the same time as Inter switched up, have, however, led to Inter taking over the league lead. In Sunday’s summit at the San Siro, Milan and Napoli were looking to reduce the gap to the top.

As expected, Zlatan Ibrahimovic was part of the home team’s starting eleven when Milan celebrated its 122nd birthday after the club’s founding in mid-December 1899.

Overall, however, there were two injured teams that came out to the match. Milan were without players like Simon Kjær, Davide Calabria, Ante Rebic and Rafael Leão, while Napoli, for example, had to do without Kalidou Koulibaly, Mario Rui, Fabian Ruiz, Lorenzo Insigne and Victor Osimhen.

Milan got a nightmare opening to the match when Eljif Elmas appeared in front of Ibrahimovic and nodded in 0-1 on a Napoli corner from the right already after five minutes of play.

– Good timing, Elmas backs out into that area and no one picks him up. It is clear that it is a bad defensive play by Milan, but smart movement and a good finish by Elmas, says C More’s expert commentator Vicki Blommé.

Twelve minutes later, Ibrahimovic was close to equalizing when he met a left-footed shot from Fodé-Ballo Touré with his head. The Swede’s nod, however, slammed close outside the far post.

– It’s almost like he gets it on goal, Zlatan, says Vicki Blommé.

With just over half an hour played, Milan came close once again when right-back Alessandro Florenzi tried a distance shot that went just outside David Ospina’s goal. 0-1 was thus the result into the halftime break.

Shortly after the break, Ibrahimovic had the next opportunity to level the game when he received the ball to the left in the penalty area and fired the shotgun with his left foot. Ospina, however, got his right arm up and managed to steer the ball over the crossbar.

After Junior Messias had a finish just over the crossbar, Ibrahimovic got a free chance when Napoli midfielder André-Zambo Anguissa hit a ball straight into his own penalty area. The Swede, however, got a failed first touch and the ball slipped away from him.

When the clock ticked up to 90 minutes, it was time for the match’s big snack. The ball then ended up with Milan midfielder Franck Kessié who pushed there 1-1 in the penalty area. However, the VAR room discovered that substitute Milan striker Olivier Giroud, who was lying on the grass, was in offside position when Napoli midfielder Juan Jesus (also lying down) tried to clear the ball. The goal was therefore ruled out as Giroud was judged to affect the game and the match ended 0-1.

– This is a verdict that will be discussed and cranked all night long in Italy, says C More commentator Christoffer Svanemar.

– It can be seen that Giroud himself does not actively participate, but the judge makes that assessment. He is in an offside position, we can not contradict that in any way, the expert commentator Vicki Blommé adds.

Milan coach Stefano Pioli did not understand the decision to rule out the late equalizer.

– I know that they (the referees) will say that they followed the rules, but how can a player lying on the grass affect the opponent? There is no chance that Giroud stops Juan Jesus, Giroud’s legs are outstretched, he tries everything to get out of the way, Pioli tells Dazn according to Football-Italia.

Napoli overtook Milan at the top of the Serie A table thanks to the heavy three-pointer. Both teams are now four points behind league-leading Inter with almost half the season played.

Startelvor:

Milan: Maignan – Florenzi, Tomori, Romagnoli, Ballo-Toure – Tonali, Kessie – Messias, Brahim Diaz, Krunic – Ibrahimovic.

Naples: Ospina – Malcuit, Rrahmani, Juan Jesus, Di Lorenzo – Anguissa, Demme – Lozano, Zielinski, Elmas – Petagna.

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