Osimhen-less Napoli bow to rampant AC Milan

The services of the Nigerian was missed as Luciano Spalletti’s Blues were overpowered by visiting Red and Blacks

AC Milan made light of Victor Osimhen’s absence with a 4-0 away victory over Napoli on Sunday to continue their push for the Italian elite division title.

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The striker, who was involved in Nigeria’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Guinea Bissau, was ruled out against the Red and Blacks – having complained of discomfort in his left abductor muscle.

In the four-goal thriller, it was the Milan based outfit that started the fixture like a house on fire – taking the lead courtesy of Rafael Leao’s 17th minute effort.

The Portugal international was picked out by Brahim Diaz who put the ball before the Blues’ goalkeeper – to end his wait for his first AC Milan goal since mid-January.

Eight minutes later, Diaz went from provider to goal-getter. Profiting from a spending combo from Olivier Giroud and Ismael Bennacer, the Spaniard got the better of two defenders before finding the roof of the net.

In the second-half, Luciano Spalletti’s men came out stronger but were unable to turn the tides against the Milan-based outfit.

Despite creating numerous scoring opportunities, they were unable to put the ball into the net, and that was exploited by their guests.

Man-of-the-match Leao complete his brace a minute before the hour mark after unleashing an unstoppable shot past Alex Meret, having been set up by Sandro Tonali.

Supersub Alexis Saelemaekers completed the rout by breezing past Napoli backline before finishing through Meret’s legs.

With that result, AC Milan have completed a run of three victories in Naples for the first time since 1951.