Milan enters Monday’s showdown with a three point lead on Napoli, down to third after the weekend’s action. The teams met in Naples in October, Milan recording a 2-1 win. SB Nation Soccer Editor Richard Farley looks at the rematch.
AC Milan Vs. Napoli: $#!% My Editors Say
Since I’m out of ways to describe how many ways this game sucks, I’m going to turn it over to the rest of the SBNation Soccer staff, who have been hilarious throughout the match. Here are some highlights.
“KILL CAVANI. (That was a command for Cavani).”
Read Article >AC Milan Vs. Napoli: Pato Adds Insult To Injury With Milan’s Third Goal, Aided By Poor Defending
Napoli certainly didn’t come to play today at the San Siro, but it’s taken until the very end of the match for Milan to truly put them to the sword. Two minutes after Pato combined with Kevin-Prince Boateng for a 77th minute goal, the Brazilian has a goal of his own, absolutely gifted to him by the Napoli defense, though it came off of a brilliant strike.
Once again, it was the long ball that was Napoli’s undoing, and once again, a goal was created off of a long ball to the speedy Pato. However, two of Napoli’s defenders did very well to get back between Pato in the goal, giving them every chance to prevent a serious scoring opportunity. Unfortunately, after doing the hard part (sprinting faster than Pato to get between the ball and the goal), they forgot that there was a little more work to do. Both defenders continued to back off Pato and allowed him about ten dribbles with the ball towards the goal, entirely uncontested. After a good 10 seconds of this, another teammate of Pato’s arrived. Pre-occupied with this, the defenders still refused to close down Pato and he unleashed a shot from 25 yards, beating Morgan De Sanctis with a good strike. 3-0 Milan, game over.
Read Article >AC Milan Vs. Napoli: Milan Double Lead Through Pato And Kevin-Prince Boateng
For a while after Zlatan Ibrahimovic put AC Milan ahead with a penalty kick, Napoli were doing a decent job of pressuring and getting bodies forward. Unfortunately, getting bodies forward was about all of they did, regularly failing to actually turn it into something productive. Based on how terrible they’ve been, it would have been kind of a travesty if Napoli were able to score a goal and get a point out of the game. Thankfully, those concerns have all been put to bed, thanks to an AC Milan goal that doubled their lead.
Pato and substitute Kevin-Prince Boateng, who entered for Robinho, were the players who combined for the goal, but a hat tip is deserved for the Napoli defense, who did quite a bit to make it easy on them. Pato was given a ton of space to run onto a long ball, which he took to the left edge of the penalty area. He was then given an outrageous amount of time to sit there and wait for his teammates to come support him. When Boateng came rushing into the box, Pato played him in and Boateng did well to touch the ball into the roof of the net, giving Milan a 2-0 lead.
Read Article >AC Milan Vs. Napoli: Lineups
The lineups for Serie A’s top of the table battle between AC Milan and Napoli are about as expected, with both teams throwing out minimal surprises. Ezequiel Lavezzi is suspended, meaning Giuseppe Mascara gets a start in the front three along with Edinson Cavani and Marek Hamsik. AC Milan have gone with tough tacklers in midfield, opting for three defensive minded central midfielders instead of including Kevin-Prince Boateng or Clarence Seedorf.
Napoli Lineup (3-5-2): De Sanctis; Cannavaro, Aronica, Campagnaro; Dossena, Gargano, Pazienza, Maggio; Hamsik; Mascara, Cavani
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