Napoli 1-3 AC Milan: 5 hits and flops as a Zlatan Ibrahimovic brace lifts the Rossoneri | Serie A 2020-21
AC Milan continued their unbeaten start to the 2020-21 Serie A campaign after an emphatic 3-1 victory over Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo.
A brace from talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a debut goal for substitute Jens Petter Hauge did the job for the Rossoneri, who're back at the league summit with 20 points from eight games.
Dries Mertens was on target for the Partenopei just after the hour mark, halving the deficit on the night to give the hosts a chance of salvaging something from the game, but a red card for Timoue Bakayoko soon killed all hopes of a Napoli comeback.
This was a third defeat of the campaign for Gennaro Gattuso's side, who drop out of the top five and are now down in sixth place in the league standings.
On that note, here are the hits and flops from either team in the match:
Hit: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan)
Zlatan Ibrahimovich weaved his magic once again, netting twice against Napoli to continue his insane scoring streak. The AC Milan striker has now scored in eight consecutive top-flight games, including six in the current season, and shows no signs of slowing down, even at the ripe old age of 39!
The sheer ease with which he put away a sumptuous cross from Theo Hernandez was pure class, reflective of his formidable aerial prowess. Ibrahimovich then produced a clinical finish beyond Alex Meret in the second half to bring up his brace, his third of the season already.
That took his tally of goals in the 2020-21 Serie A to ten, the most in the division and two clear of Cristiano Ronaldo. It is the most managed by an AC Milan player at this stage of the domestic campaign since Marco van Basten in 1992. Incredible stuff from the evergreen star!
However, Ibrahimovich's night came to a premature end after he was trudged off the pitch with an apparent hamstring injury in his left leg, which is a huge blow to AC Milan, as the Swede might be sidelined for some time.
Flop: Timoue Bakayoko (Napoli)
Timoue Bakayoko played with fire and got burnt. His recklessness with challenges came back to haunt him when the former AS Monaco star was sent off in the 65th minute. That undid all his good work in midfield and effectively killed off his side's chances of producing a comeback against AC Milan.
After showing excellent distribution skills and passing range, Bakayoko was cautioned in the first-half for a silly tackle on Alexis Saelemaekers. But the player continued to throw his body vacously to win back possession. In the second half, a clumsy challenge on Theo Hernandez got Bakayoko sent off.
Just two minutes before the red card incident, Dries Mertens had scored for Napoli to reduce the deficit to just one goal, boosting his side's hopes of making a comeback against AC Milan. However, the Frenchman's red card doused all such hopes almost instantly.