Matteo Politano came off the bench to score a 79th-minute winner as Napoli moved up to second in Serie A after beating AC Milan 1-0 at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

The reigning Scudetto holders are now seven points behind leaders Inter with seven games of their season remaining, while Milan saw their title hopes severely dented. 

Youssouf Fofana's volley forced Vanja Milinkovic-Savic into an early save before Leonardo Spinazzola's curling effort at the other end whistled just evaded the top-right corner. 

Milan had Strahinja Pavlovic to thank as his fine recovery block denied Giovane an attempt at goal as Scott McTominay's overhead kick went wide to close out a low-key first half.

The match adopted a more end-to-end feel after the break, with Giovane's stinging drive with his left foot forcing Milan captain Mike Maignan into a sprawling stop to his right. 

Antonio Conte turned to his bench in search of a winner, with both Alisson Santos and Politano introduced, and the pair played their part in putting Napoli ahead late in the day. 

Santos' brilliant no-look pass picked out Mathias Olivera, whose cross into the box was headed to the back post by Milan defender Koni De Winter, allowing Politano to strike first time and squeeze the ball in at Maignan's near post. 

Milan pushed for a leveller, with Santiago Gimenez's header from Zachary Athekame's cross landing on top of the net the closest they came as Napoli held on for a hugely important three points. 

Data Debrief: Conte goes five for five

At such an important time of the season, Napoli are beginning to hit form and could be dreaming of a late charge for the title, though the Opta supercomputer only hands them a 4.4% chance of overhauling Inter at the summit. 

However, they will believe anything is possible, given Napoli have now won each of their last five Serie A matches, doing so for the first time this campaign. The last time Conte achieved that in a single season was a run of seven between December 2024 and January 2025. 

Conte also led Napoli to back-to-back home league wins over Milan for the first time since a run of three straight victories between August 2016 and August 2018, though this encounter may not be remembered fondly. 

That is because Napoli were only able to muster an expected goals (xG) total of 0.75 from their 10 shots, only three of which were on target, compared to Milan's tally of 0.47 from their seven attempts.