Serie A: Defending champion Napoli beats AC Milan and increases the pressure on Inter

Napoli are still in the hunt for the Serie A title after beating Scudetto rivals AC Milan 1-0 on Monday.

Matteo Politano scored the only goal of the match with 11 minutes remaining in front of delighted fans in Naples as the hosts recorded a fifth straight victory.

Napoli leapfrogged Milan into second place but still have a battle on their hands to deny Inter the 21st league crown as they sit seven points behind with seven games remaining.

But Antonio Conte’s team were superior at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, where Politano’s second goal of the season decided a largely dull match.

Milan are now nine points behind local rivals Inter and will most likely have to settle for a return to the Champions League.

Napoli’s win came without Romelu Lukaku, who has incurred the wrath of the club’s hierarchy after remaining in Belgium for treatment for a hip injury.

And Danish striker Rasmus Hojlund was subsequently ruled out with a stomach flu, ending a run of 29 consecutive appearances that left Giovane in charge for the hosts in the winter.

The display by Napoli fans encouraged the team to go “all in” for the title, but it was a poor match, not helped by Milan only being able to select star strikers Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic.

Giovane forced Maignan into the best save of the match in the 50th minute with a tantalizing move from distance, and there was little more goal-scoring action until Politano pounced on Koni De Winter’s weak ball with a powerful and decisive first finish.

Juve is looking at Champions League

Juventus moved to within a point of the Champions League places in Serie A with a 2-0 win over Genoa as the battle for the top four intensifies.

Juve took advantage of Como’s goalless draw in fourth place at Udinese earlier in the day to take the three points in Turin thanks to Gleison Bremer’s fourth-minute header and a 17th-minute goal from the ever-reliable Weston McKennie.

American McKennie’s fine finish took his Serie A tally to five, equaling his best ever performance in a single season in his first season at Juve in 2020/21.

But he showed no interest in that personal statistic when he spoke to DAZN after the match, saying: “The most important thing is to get into the Champions League.”

The home fans had goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio to thank for a brilliant double save, which prevented the feisty Genoa from getting back into the match, first kicking away Aaron Martin’s penalty and then keeping out Vitinha’s volley.

Di Gregorio has had a tough second season at Juve, dropping out of the first team in February after a series of problems and only featuring in goal on Monday after Mattia Perin was substituted at half-time with a calf injury.

«He has some good moments and some difficult moments, but we always knew he was a quality goalkeeper. He knew his moment would come,» Bremer said.

Di Gregorio’s stops helped put some distance between fifth-placed Juve and Roma, who are three points ahead of Spalletti’s team in sixth after being beaten 5-2 at Inter on Sunday.

Juve are also four points clear of Atalanta, 3-0 winners in Lecce, ahead of Saturday’s match between the pair in Bergamo, while Como host Inter the following day.

Genoa suffered no real damage in its bid to avoid relegation as Daniele De Rossi’s side sit six points above Lecce, who are in the bottom three after a heavy defeat.

Lecce were booed by disgruntled fans after a defeat that left the team level on 27 points with Cremonese, who sit just outside the drop zone thanks to their superior head-to-head record.

Published on April 7, 2026