Three minutes after the break, the veteran striker diverted home a wayward shot at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
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Olivier Giroud scored the only goal in AC Milan’s 1-0 win over Napoli on Sunday, propelling his team to the top of the Serie A table. Three minutes after the break, the veteran striker diverted home a wayward shot at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, putting Milan two points ahead of local rivals Inter Milan. Inter, who have a game in hand, had taken the lead with a 5-0 thrashing of Salernitana on Friday, but now sit second, a point ahead of Napoli. The Frenchman’s eighth league goal of the season came away from the San Siro for the first time since joining from Chelsea in the summer, capping off an eventful night for the 35-year-old.
“I always try to do my job when I’m in the area, to be in the right place at the right time,” Giroud told DAZN. “I don’t want to talk about the Scudetto right now but we’re hoping to win something this year. We’re ambitious and we’ll fight to the end.”
When Giroud was flattened by Kalidou Koulibaly midway through the first half, it appeared that he would not finish the game. He was down for more than two minutes as medical staff attempted to patch up a bleeding gash above his ankle. Giroud then collided with David Ospina seven minutes before halftime, leaving the Napoli goalkeeper prone on the grass before eventually getting up and continuing.
Just before the hour mark, a recovered Ospina did well to tip aside Ismael Bennacer’s low drive, while Theo Hernandez and Alexis Saelemaekers could have extended the margin of victory late on in a hugely impressive display that underlines their title credentials.
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It comes after two disappointing draws with bottom sides Salernitana and Udinese, which allowed Napoli to lead the league on goal difference heading into this week’s matches. Luciano Spalletti’s team was the league’s form team in 2022, but despite having an almost full-strength lineup and a large crowd behind them, they failed to live up to expectations.
“Today was a big opportunity for us which we wasted, but we can’t cry about it because there are lots of games to go,” said a disappointed Napoli captain Lorenzo Insigne. “If we play again like we did tonight no one here will remember us.”
