AC Milan 0-2 Napoli: Five things we learned – battles lost, big errors and three positives  | OneFootball

The Scudetto train seemed to leave AC Milan behind on Tuesday night at San Siro as they were beaten by the league leaders Napoli.

Milan went into last night’s game against the current table-toppers hoping to send a statement that they should be considered in the title fight. In the end, however, they were beaten 2-0 by Antonio Conte’s side.

Goals from Romelu Lukaku and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the first half did the damage. The first came inside five minutes in typical Lukaku fashion as he showed his strength to hold off Strahinja Pavlovic and score; the second was a trademark cut-in-and-finish from the Georgian winger.

The Rossoneri thus fall 11 points behind the Partenopei as a result of the defeat and although they have a game in hand, the feeling is that any Scudetto hopes have vanished already. Below are five things we learned from the game.

1. The only three positives

Since the negatives are much more abundant, let’s get the plus points out of the way first. While there wasn’t a positive outcome from the game, a few players can at least hold their heads high as they tried to bring energy and solutions to the field.

Samuel Chukwueze was probably the best Milan player as he brought a lot of energy and got the assist for the disallowed goal. He created a chance for Pulisic which should’ve been an assist, but the American failed to materialise the opportunity. Overall, the Nigerian was the only real threat.

Emerson Royal also did ok as he was not at fault for either of the goal and was lively going forward. Given the criticism aimed at him since the start of the season it is refreshing to see him be one of the more consistent players out there.

Finally, Malick Thiaw also played a decent game, although we can put some blame on him for the first goal. Pavlovic was the one who should’ve done more, really, but despite that moment of misunderstanding the German was solid at the back and made life hard for Napoli’s attackers.

2. Errors prove costly (again)

Much more was expected from both Pavlovic and Mike Maignan, with the duo being the difference makers on the night in a bad way.

The Serbian was bullied by Lukaku on the first goal, which was a bit difficult to digest since the centre-back is also a very physical player and had to be ready for that kind of battle with the Belgian rather than being floored so easily.

Maignan should’ve really done a bit more on the second goal and while it can be argued it was an awkward shot that Kvaratskhelia should never have been allowed to get off, it should have been stopped by a keeper many regard as one of the best in the world.

We’ve certainly seen some phenomenal saves by the Frenchman and sometimes it’s the more simple ones he seems to struggle with, paradoxically. After that second goal the mission for Milan became very complicated especially given Conte’s style and Napoli’s quality at the back.

3. A key battle lost

Whilst Milan had the possession for large parts of the game it was without clear ideas and descended into repetitive and listless ball circulation. Both Youssouf Fofana and Yunus Musah failed to have a big impact on the game and dictate the tempo, when the double pivot needed to ask more questions.

Fofana was also at fault for the second goal as he should’ve done more to close Kvaratshkelia down and as a whole he failed to really contributed anything excluding a few duels he won in the defensive phase.

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Musah, on the other hand, tried to get things going in attack and even had a shot on target. Despite a few flashes it was another night where there were far more shaky moments, including dribbles into traffic and bad touches ruining scoring opportunities.

With Tijjani Reijnders suspended it was always going to be hard for the midfield pairing and yet the ploy from Napoli was clear: sit deep and let them have the ball, because they do not possess the quality combined with speed in decision making to ask serious questions.

4. Tactics and substitutions

The decision was made to not start Rafael Leao or Christian Pulisic, and with the latter battling flu it raised even more questions about the former. Both came on but they did so in a situation that was hard to succeed, given how deep Napoli were playing and how little Milan had got going.

The post-game statements made by Fonseca – stating that the Rossoneri played well and that he is ‘more confident than ever’ – seemed delusional. The fans cannot be fooled: results are the primary interest at the moment, and having a bit more of the ball and a few more shots does not equal points.

Napoli’s performance was textbook Conte. They bagged the early goal and soaked up the pressure in a very controlled manner, limiting Milan to a couple of dangerous moments for the majority of the game.

Milan conceded a second cheap goal towards the end of the first half which pretty much sealed the game given Napoli’s defensive record. It was reminiscent of the 3-0 defeat to Conte’s Inter in the 2020-21 season, where the possession the Diavolo got was ceded to them.

Ironically Conte was not the chosen one by the Milan management in the summer and is now proving what he can do with one preseason. Yes Napoli spent €150m but they finished 22 points behind the Rossoneri last season and are currently 11 ahead.

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

5. Dishing out the blame

Speaking of coaches, while Fonseca might not be doing himself any favours, he’s not the only one to blame here. Against Napoli, Milan might have been unlucky given the suspensions for Theo Hernandez and Reijnders whilst Gabbia was also out with an injury and Pulisic was sidelined with the flu.

Four players shouldn’t leave a team like Milan in a non-competitive state, which it clearly did despite the fact three of the absences were known days in advance. The brutal fact of the matter is that the squad is showing itself to be incomplete and lacking in quality depth.

Amongst the most questionable transfer decisions during the summer has to be the defensive department where the big investment was Pavlovic, who at 23 years has lots of room for improvement and was always going to need time to adapt to a higher level coming from Salzburg.

Milan then parted ways with Pierre Kalulu and brought Emerson Royal who has hardly been an upgrade and some might consider a downgrade. Meanwhile, no deputy to Theo was signed, forcing Fonseca to play Filippo Teracciano whenever the Frenchman is not available.

Finally, Fikayo Tomori has been in decline for a couple of years now and realistically – excluding Gabbia who has proved to be the only reliable defender – there is not one top-level centre-back in the group that can lead and organise from game-to-game, let alone to lead a trophy fight.

Then we can scrutinise the decisions to go and buy both Alvaro Morata and Tammy Abraham too. The Spaniard only cost €13m, which could be considered cheap given his positive impact, but he has two goals in 10 games.

Yes, Morata offers a lot in terms of work rate and opening space for his team-mates with his intelligent runs, but he is not the clinical finisher Milan needed and neither is Abraham who is yet to score from open play.

As each game passes this season, this coach and this team continue to generate more questions than answers. If this is where we are going into November, goodness knows how things will be at the turn of the year.