AC Milan were held to a 2-2 draw at Napoli on Sunday night, as the Rossoneri surrendered a two-goal lead to disappointingly end up having to share the spoils.
A brace from Olivier Giroud had put us in a commanding position to secure all three points, but second-half goals from Matteo Politano and Giacomo Raspadori for the hosts ensured that a frantic encounter ended level.
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That in turn leaves Milan in third place in Serie A after 10 games, three points adrift of leaders Inter, as we go into November looking to put a difficult run of games behind us and trying to rediscover our winning form.
Regret after throwing away lead in Naples
Given it’s never easy going to Naples, a draw on the face of it doesn’t sound like a bad result.
However, when you take a 2-0 lead against the Partenopei on the road, you have to take full advantage and see out the game to secure all three points, that would have given us a significant boost.
Instead, we’re left to assess and analyse a second-half in which we didn’t respond well enough to protect our lead, and there will be a real feeling of regret due to the way the encounter ultimately played out.
Giroud back among the goals
The 37-year-old has struggled to find the back of the net in recent weeks, with his last goal coming against Roma back on September 1.
While he’s chipped in with a couple of assists in that time, given his importance in leading the line and offering a goalscoring presence up top, it was a growing concern that he was continuously firing blanks.
In turn, it was important that we got the right service into him during this game, and while he seemingly loves scoring against Napoli, it’s hoped that this brace now sparks an improved run of goalscoring form from him to set the example up front.
Injuries a concern
While we are already dealing with a couple of key absences in the Milan XI, it didn’t help that we lost more players on Sunday who had to be replaced.
Christian Pulisic and Pierre Kalulu were brought off with knocks, while Marco Pellegrino was then forced off with an injury too as it not only raised concerns about our depth moving forward, but it ruined any chance we had of rediscovering some rhythm and solidity in the second half.
It’s hoped that we get good news on the injury front in the coming days, as ultimately we can ill-afford to start losing more players as we look to put a poor run of results behind us.
Pioli decisions raise question marks
There’s no real issue with the reaction of the players who came off, as provided it doesn’t boil over, it’s good to see them frustrated and disappointed to be replaced having not been able to help us see out the win.
However, was Pioli right to replace Giroud and Rafael Leao with 10 minutes or so remaining? The latter was far from at his best but he can still make something happen in a split second with decisive play in the final third, while Giroud was searching for his hat-trick having been a threat.
Injuries complicated his decision-making process, but Milan look rattled and overrun as the tide turned in the second half, and the Milan boss has to be better at stemming that pressure and getting us back into the contest.
Key run of fixtures ahead now to get back on track
It’s been a horrible week for Milan having suffered defeats to Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, before squandering this lead for what would have been a significant win.
With Udinese, Lecce and Fiorentina ahead in Serie A in November, coupled with clashes with PSG and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, it’s a crucial month to get on track in both competitions.
We’ve had a rough run of difficult games, but it’s absolutely fundamental that we put those behind us now by drawing a line under it, learn from it and produce better performances to get the desired results in a difficult, but more favourable, run of upcoming games.
