Napoli strengthen bid to retain Italian crown with win against AC Milan

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Napoli’s Italian defender #37 Leonardo Spinazzola kicks the ball during the Italian Serie A football match between SSC Napoli and AC Milan at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Naples on April 6, 2026. (Photo by CARLO HERMANN / AFP)

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Napoli are still in the hunt to retain their Serie A title after the champions beat Scudetto rivals AC Milan 1-0 on Monday.

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Matteo Politano lashed home the only goal of the game with 11 minutes remaining in front of delighted fans in Naples as the hosts racked up a fifth straight win.

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

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

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Milan now trail their local rivals Inter by nine points and will in all likelihood have to content themselves with a return to the Champions League.

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

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And Denmark striker Rasmus Hojlund was then ruled out with a stomach bug, ending a run of 29 consecutive appearances, leaving winter signing Giovane to lead the line for the hosts.

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Napoli fans’ pre-match display encouraged their team to go “all-in” on the title, but it was a poor game not helped by Milan only being able to select star attackers Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic.

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Giovane forced Maignan into the best save of the match in the 50th minute with a stinging drive from distance and there was little more goalmouth action until Politano pounced on Koni De Winter’s weak headed clearance with a powerful, and decisive, first-time finish.

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– Juve eye Champions League –

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Juventus moved to within a point of Serie A’s Champions League places with a 2-0 win over Genoa, as the top four battle heats up.

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Taking advantage of fourth-placed Como’s goalless draw at Udinese earlier in the day, Juve notched the three points in Turin thanks to Gleison Bremer’s fourth-minute header and a 17th-minute strike from the ever-reliable Weston McKennie.

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American McKennie’s fine finish took his Serie A tally to five, equalling his best-ever haul in a single league season back in his first campaign with Juve in 2020/21.

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But he showed no interest in that personal statistic when speaking with DAZN after the match, saying “the important thing is getting into the Champions League”.

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Home fans had to thank goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio for a superb double save which stopped spirited Genoa from getting back into the game, first pawing away Aaron Martin’s penalty and then keeping out Vitinha’s volley.

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Di Gregorio has had a tough second season at Juve, dropped from the first team in February following a series of clangers and only in goal on Monday due to Mattia Perin being substituted at half-time with a calf injury.

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“He has some good moments and some tough moments, but we always knew that he was a quality goalkeeper. He knew that his moment would come,” said Bremer.

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

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Juve are also four points ahead of Atalanta, 3-0 winners at Lecce, ahead of Saturday’s clash between the pair in Bergamo, with Como hosting Inter the following day.

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

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

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AFP

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