Milan sweep aside title rivals Napoli
Reuters - Monday 28 February 2011, 22:55
MILAN - AC Milan's 3-0 win over title
rivals Napoli made the Rossoneri huge favourites to seal their
first scudetto since 2004 but the poor quality of the
top-of-the-table clash summed up Serie A this season.
A modest Milan side, beaten at home by Tottenham Hotspur in
the Champions League two weeks ago, would not have had a hope of
winning the title in recent years when a dominant Inter Milan
were racking up five in a row.
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Massimiliano Allegri's team are only prospering now because
of a lack of real rivals and injury problems at Inter, who have
also had to deal with Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez departing
before ex-Milan boss Leonardo came in to steady the ship.
Second-placed Inter may yet snatch a sixth straight title
with 11 games left given they must play Milan who have had a few
shaky results this season.
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"Five points ahead of second is a good lead but the
championship still has a long way to run," Allegri, plucked from
relative obscurity at Cagliari to be Milan boss, told Sky.
"I'm happy with what the lads did. The first half we were
good in defence and midfield but we made lots of mistakes up
front."
The fact that third-placed Napoli, who went bankrupt seven
years ago before working their way back up the league pyramid,
are in the title hunt is further proof of Serie A's inherent
weakness.
Monday's game had more misplaced passes than Barcelona might
manage in a season in Spain and Italy's loss of their fourth
Champions League qualifying place for 2012 to Germany last week
was sobering for Serie A which still boasts the European
champions in Inter.
Napoli never turned up and although rain made play tricky
and Zlatan Ibrahimovic's penalty which gave Milan a 49th-minute
lead was dubious, the visitors can have no complaints after
Kevin Prince Boateng and Alexandre Pato sealed the win.
"We didn't play like we know we can. We lost our way after
going behind and everyone just went forward," Napoli boss Walter
Mazzarri said.
"I struggle to think it was a penalty," he added in
reference to Salvatore Aronica's handball as he went to block
off Pato.