AC Milan crumbled in the second half as Piotr Zielinski and Dries Mertens inspired Napoli to a thrilling come-from-behind home win.
Match Events
5' Great save from Donnarumma!
Mario Rui finds Callejon with a far-post cross, and the attacker centres the opportunity for Allan who puts it straight at Donnarumma from a point-blank position.
15' GOAL! Napoli 0-1 Milan (Bonaventura)
The San Paolo is silenced as Giacomo Bonaventura hits a sensational volley! The cross from Suso finds Borini on the left who centres the ball via header for Bonaventura.
The Rossoneri midfielder then hits a venomous strike while airborne to beat Ospina.
40' Callejon hits the side-netting
Zielinski wins the ball from Biglia in midfield and charges towards goal, striking towards Donnarumma at his first sight of the penalty area. A good decision – but not a great execution as the shot drifts wide.
49' GOAL! Napoli 0-2 Milan (Calabria)
Not known for his goal-scoring ability, Calabria has slotted the ball brilliantly between the legs of Koulibaly, and into the corner of the goal – just out of the grasp of Ospina – from the outer area of the penalty box.
The goal is all down to Suso as his control for the switched pass and the lay-off for Calabria were both picture-perfect. Another great goal from Milan who are now in control.
53' GOAL! Napoli 1-2 Milan (Zielinski)
The home side force themselves back in the match after a turnover in midfield gifts the ball to Napoli through Callejon, who squares it for Zielinski. The Poland midfielder hesitates and lets the ball roll before tucking it neatly in the bottom corner.
Jose Callejon has been very dangerous in this match, and his pressure finally pays with a nice assist for Zielinski's goal.
67' GOAL! Napoli 2-2 Milan (Zielinski)
Following an in-swinging corner, Bakayoko meets it with his head to clear the ball, but only to the top of the box for Zielinski who fires it back towards goal.
The ball manages to squirm past the mess of legs and into the back of the net! Game on!
80' GOAL! Napoli 3-2 Milan (Mertens)
Brilliant scenes at the San Paolo as substitute Dries Mertens gets on the end of a fantastic centring pass from Allan who gets into the penalty area following a brilliant run!
Donnarumma laid out to get to it, but the pass is put just out of reach and Mertens slots home in the empty goal.
Match Report
Napoli brilliantly recovered from two goals down to beat AC Milan 3-2 as Carlo Ancelotti got the better of his former employers at Stadio San Paolo on Saturday.
Piotr Zielinski scored twice in 14 second-half minutes before substitute Dries Mertens capped off the comeback to consign the Rossoneri to a deflating defeat in their first outing of the new Serie A season.
Gennaro Gattuso had appeared set to record a memorable victory over Ancelotti - under whom he won the Champions League twice as a player - when David Calabria doubled a lead earlier opened by Giacomo Bonaventura.
But the influential Zielinski soon took command of the contest with two fine finishes and the hosts' dominance was rewarded through Mertens' 80th-minute winner, continuing Napoli's unbeaten run in this fixture to eight Serie A meetings.
Line-ups
Napoli XI: Albiol, Hamsik, D. Ospina, Callejón, Allan, Insigne, Mário Rui, K. Koulibaly, Hysaj, P. Zieliński, A. Milik
Subs: Orestis Karnezis, D. Mertens, Chiriches, Maksimovic, Verdi, Malcuit, Sebastiano Luperto, Rog, Ounas, A.Diawara, D. Marfella
Milan XI: L. Biglia, G. Higuaín, Musacchio, Bonaventura, R. Rodríguez, Borini, Suso, Romagnoli, Calabria, Kessié, G. Donnarumma
Subs: Pepe Reina, Abate, Bertolacci, A. Donnarumma, Bakayoko, Simic, Castillejo, D. Laxalt, Halilovic, Mauri, Caldara, Cutrone
CR7ICON
89
Ancelotti paid gattuso during half-time to sell him this game....😂😂😂😂
Hridoy_MUN_GER_BAR
77
What a Comebackkkkk by this man's guy.. Napoli will be a strong competitor this season.. Be alert Juventus
WorlDxClass
72
these is wat u get for playing Bakayoko who came from the sub...,lol
tonacdkrsu
68
the problem isn't the players. the real issue is Gattuso isn't the man to bring Ac MILAN back because he still need time to become coach for big club also the way he use his players is wrong.
Aquaman
67
Milan was definitely the better side throughout the first half,they were containing the threat from Napoli with each minute and were making the best of the Napoli players' frustrations.Bonaventura's early goal showed the improvement in Milan's side under Gattuso.Just like the first half,the Milan side continued their pressure on Napoli by scoring another goal.The right thing to do after that for Milan was to safeguard their lead till the end but they were unfortunate and didn't raise the level of their game.Napoli proved once again that they may falter in the game but shouldn't ever be underestimated as Zielinski scored two scorching goals which brought them back in the game and turned the tables on Milan.Shoutout to Suso and Borini for their assists.In the end the fan favourite Mertens came as a substitute and delivered to the expectations of Napoli fans.Milan players were toothless after Napoli raised their heads which will be a matter of concern for Gattuso.
Zuma1989
55
AC Milan need to upgrade their games if they want to become a big team again,from 2-0 to lose 3-2 to Napoli, that's a totally disgrace performances from AC Milan players.
WorlDxClass
36
these whole thing all started wen Bakayoko was "abt to enter...", "already in the game..." and "ending of the game..."
follower
36
big remontada for napoli in the first two big games in the Serie A. lazio and ac Milan are now the victims, who will be next? sampdoria, fiorentina or torino . we learned a new rule called never underestimate napoli, they will come back. napoli will be on fire 🔥🔥🔥🔥⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️
james_traveller
36
Your boss is always your boss no matter how strong you may be. Forza Napoli