Conte’s Napoli has become a powerhouse: at San Siro, the Neapolitans confirmed their excellent form and secured first place in the standings by decisively beating Milan 2-0. The Rossoneri appeared less cohesive, less fit, and less determined compared to the league leaders. The absences of Hernandez and Reijnders were significantly felt, along with Pulisic being only partially fit and entering the game half an hour from the end. However, concerns remain regarding Fonseca’s management of the group and the team’s lack of identity, made even more evident by the awareness of their opponents. Napoli plays a well-defined game in its simplicity and has strong players who can alternate without losing quality; for instance, Gilmour stepped in for key midfielder Lobotka and had a great game. Fonseca, in a crisis, once again left Leao on the bench, who has gone from star to supporting player, preferring Okafor, a decision that did not pay off, even though Leao, who came on in the 63rd minute, failed to make the most of his time on the field to convince his coach.
From the Napoli bench, players capable of maintaining the high level, like Neres and Simeone, along with Mazzocchi, rose to the occasion, finally delivering the performance expected of them. The match-winning goals, both scored in the first half, were netted by the team’s standout players: Lukaku and Kvaratskhelia. Everything went as well as Conte could have hoped. For Milan, Morata stood out, scoring a beautiful header that was ruled out by VAR for offside, which could have reopened the game at the start of the second half. Today, all the pursuers will take the field to try not to lose further ground to the flying leaders. Inter will visit the surprise package Empoli at 6:30 PM local time, while Atalanta will host disappointing Monza at 8:45 PM. Juventus, meanwhile, will welcome Pecchia’s Parma at the Stadium, a team that has received many compliments and delivered numerous good performances but has few points, partly due to several unfortunate episodes, indicating a lack of concentration from the group over the full 90 minutes and especially at key moments: the latest incident occurred last matchday at Tardini when Bonny missed a penalty for a possible victory with five minutes remaining.
