Ismael Bennacer Offers Milan QF Lead against Napoli : AC Milan , Italy’s most successful football club in Europe , defeated Napoli by 1-0 on Wednesday night in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals as Algeria midfielder Ismael Bennacer scored the only goal of the game.
The 25-year old who has been a Milan regular for many seasons running netted in the 40th minute with a powerful effort that landed at the bottom left corner of Alex Meret’s goal.
Whilst the Algeria grabbed the headlines for the good reasons , fellow African Andre Zambo Anguissa the Cameroonian midfielder of Napoli rather was sent off in the 74th minute after receiving a second booking.
In front of a packed San Siro stadium , AC Milan won the first leg against Napoli. Second victory in a row for Stefano Pioli’s men against the Gli Azzurri after the 4-0 success in Serie A ten days ago.
Well in place defensively and formidable on the counterattack, the Rossoneri win to take the advantage in view of the return leg at the Estadio Diego Armando Maradona next week.
It must be emphasized that Stefano Pioli won the tactical match against Luciano Spalletti once again.
Winning against this Napoli is anything but simple, but AC Milan has done it twice in two weeks and it’s not for nothing. Another match well prepared by the Rossoneri who did not leave much to the Azzurri.
Maybe the absence of Victor Osimhen did reduce Napoli’s attacking quality but Milan do not care.
The Milanese were able to be solid defensively and lucid offensively. In midfield, the battle was won by Bennacer and Sandro Tonali, as in the last Serie A game between these two teams.
The Italian champions never really allowed the Partenopei to get closer to the goals, a sign of a well-prepared encounter from a defensive point of view.
Solid and efficient, Milan wins this first leg and we wait to see how the second will go.
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