Napoli secured a convincing 3-0 win against ten man AC Milan at Stadio San Paolo in their Serie A clash on Sunday night.
Mattia De Sciglio’s first minute dismissal left the Rossoneri with ten men for virtually the entire game with Diego Lopez fantastically denying Gonzalo Higuain from the subsequent penalty. Three goals in just six second half minutes from Marek Hamsik, Gonzalo Higuain and Manolo Gabbiadini saw the Partenopei home.
The night could not have begun any worse for the Rossoneri as De Sciglio brought down Marek Hamsik in the penalty area within 50 seconds, leaving the referee with an easy decision to dismiss the fullback.
After a delay of several minutes, Lopez produced a fantastic save to deny Higuain and provided the Rossoneri with some hope in the game.
Despite their man advantage, the Partenopei had trouble in breaking down an organised Milan defence and were restricted to hopeful shots from distance that barely threatened Lopez.
The hosts began to brake behind the Rossoneri however more last ditch defending from both Alex and Gabriel Paletta preventing any home players reaching the dangerous deliveries.
Although comfortably second best, Milan had the best chance since Higuain’s penalty as Giacomo Bonaventura rose highest in the Napoli box only to see his header from Salvatore Bocchetti’s cross strike the outside of the post with Mariano Andujar stranded.
The second half began as the first ended with the hosts dominating the ball but they were still stifled by their slow build-up play, although Paletta blocked a powerful effort from Jose Callejon.
Callejon was once again the centre of attention after he latched onto Lorenzo Insigne’s wonderful ball however instead of shooting he opted to play a square pass straight to the Milan defenders.
Just short of the hour mark Callejon came within inches of breaking the deadlock through his clever back-heeled flick but his effort rebounded off the far post as the Partenopei once again increased the pressure on the visitors.
The incessant pressure finally told with twenty minutes to play as Hamsik picked up on a block from Daniele Bonera and slotted the ball home off the near post to finally break through the Rossoneri.
It didn’t take long for Napoli to double their advantage as Higuain drove in the second goal following good work from Dries Mertens on the left flank.
The goals kept coming as just two minutes later it was Gabbiadini’s turn, tapping home from a close distance after Lopez had denied Higuain as the Rossoneri imploded.
The final fifteen minutes passed without incident, but Lopez once more produced a stunning save to deny Mertens as Rafa Benitez’s side put their recent humbling against Empoli behind them whereas the Rossoneri fell to their third consecutive league defeat.
