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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.
Hit: Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan)
The sky is the limit for Gianluigi Donnarumma, who's been exceptional between the sticks for AC Milan this season. Before this game, he had conceded just seven goals and kept three clean sheets. Even though Donnarumma couldn't add to his clean sheet tally at the San Paulo, the young Italian pulled off numerous saves to keep Napoli at bay.
The excellent Donnarumma kept out Bakayoko, Di Lorenzo and Mertens in quick succession when the game was still goalless in the first half.
In the second half, Donnarumma prevented Elmas from scoring a late equaliser by producing an eye-catching reflex save from close range before substitute Jens Petter Hague scored the third for AC Milan in the fifth minute of injury time to seal the win for the visitors.
We've seen all of this before from Gianluigi Donnarumma, but the sight of the AC Milan custodian diving left, right and centre to make those stops remains one to behold. Oh, and how about his sweeper-keeper skills - Donnarumma racing out of his area to close down an onrushing Petagna and making a crucial block was something even Manuel Neuer would be proud of!
Flop: Hirving Lozano (Napoli)
After a difficult season last time, Hirving 'Chucky' Lozano was starting to show signs of life with Napoli this season, netting four times in Serie A before the AC Milan game, including an amazing double at Atalanta on matchday four.
Starting on the left side of a three-pronged attack behind the lone striker Mertens, this was another opportunity for the Mexican international to add to his tally, with Victor Osimhen absent from the scene.
However, Lozano contrived to have a stinker against AC Milan. Hernandez had his number for most of the opening stanza, with Lozano also blazing an effort from close range over the crossbar.
The 25-year-old ended the match with two key passes, the most by a Napoli player alongside Lorenzo Insigne and Matteo Politano, but failed to truly test Donnarumma before he was subbed off in the 56th minute.
Hit: Dries Mertens (Napoli)
It wasn't the most spectacular performance from Dries Mertens, but at least he broke his scoring duck to finally get back on the scoresheet for the Partenopei. Dries Mertens made Franck Kessie pay for his mistake by controlling the ball superbly before squirming a shot under Donnarumma.
That was only the third goal of the 2020-21 campaign, 127th overall, for Napoli's all-time top-scorer as he ended a goal-scoring drought of five games.
With Victor Osimhen absent from the Napolo lineup, the home side understandably had diminished attacking prowess, but Dries Mertens stepped up to the plate and gave his team hope of a comeback. However, that was not to be, as AC Milan scored their third at the death to beat Napoli at the San Paulo for the first time in almost a decade.
