AC Milan – Napoli: Mazzarri’s Second Guessing Compounds Napoli’s Woes As Milan Break The Jinx At The San Siro (1-0)

AC Milan broke the Napoli curse at the San Siro to win the game 1-0 on home turf. A a marauding run from Theo Hernandez led to the only goal of the game as Walter Mazzarri chopped and changed relentlessly. All of that to no fruition, despite dominating possession as a last minute VAR call for a penalty for the visitors was denied.  

Tactical analysis and match report by Gaurav Krishnan. 

The last time the home team won this fixture on their own patch was Napoli’s 3-2 win over the Rossoneri in 2018. Going into this game, Milan had also succumbed to three losses in their last three games against Napoli. It was certainly some unnecessary yet unavoidable baggage hanging like a gauntlet over the heads of Milan like the lingering hoodoo of a ghost of ex-girlfriend’s past that they needed to exorcize. 

There’s been much said about Stefano Pioli in the press recently; the man who defied the odds to lead Milan to their first Scudetto in a decade in 2021/22 after Allegri’s Milan side went on to Serie A triumph in 2010/11. Although that landmark title came just two years ago, the football world does tend to forget things rather quickly. But, for all the noise surrounding journeyman Antonio Conte replacing Pioli and other rumors doing the rounds in the Italian media, Pioli once again reminded his naysayers that he is an assured tactician and a manager who gets the most out of his players - think Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2021/22 and Olivier Giroud since. This was a game of cat and mouse, that . . .