Napoli kept their push for a Champions League place alive as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over 10-man AC Milan at the Stadio San Paolo this evening.
There was drama immediately from the kickoff as Lorenzo Insigne released the run of Marek Hamsik through the middle of the Milan defence, but the forward was brought down in the penalty area by Mattia De Sciglio.
The referee dismissed the defender and pointed to the spot, but Gonzalo Higuain saw his penalty well saved by Diego Lopez.
Milan had a decent chance to take the lead when Giacomo Bonaventura found space to fire an effort at goal, but Mario Andujar was alert to the danger and made a solid stop to hold the powerful strike.
Napoli had a good opportunity when Jose Callejon beat two defenders to raid to the byline down the right before spotting the run of Insigne in the middle. The winger lifted a cross into the box for the forward, but Insigne missed his kick at the vital moment.
The visitors should have taken the lead when Salvatore Bocchetti found space down the left to whip a cross into the box for Bonaventura, but the forward's header clattered off the post.
In the second half, the home side came close to taking the lead when Callejon raided down the flank and cut the ball back into the middle for Hamsik, but his deft touch clipped the post and bounced clear.
Napoli did go ahead in the 70th minute as the pressure on the Milan goal finally told. The visitors failed to clear their lines and Hamsik scooped up the loose ball before dispatching an effort into the top corner.
The home side doubled their advantage when Dries Mertens raided down the flank and whipped a low ball across the face of goal for Higuain, who made no mistake firing the ball into the net.
Rafael Benitez's side continued to find the net when Faouzi Ghoulam teed up Higuain inside the box, and although the Argentine was denied by a good save from Lopez, the rebound struck Manolo Gabbiadini to bounce over the line.
The three goals in a six-minute spell killed off the challenge of Milan, who could not respond in the closing stages as Napoli eased to a victory which takes them back to within four points of the final Champions League place.
Simon Sinclair
