Serie A: VAR drama denies Milan as Napoli earn win

Napoli got their title challenge back on track on Sunday with a dramatic 1-0 win at rivals AC Milan which moved them up to second in Serie A.

Eljif Elmas headed home the decisive goal from Piotr Zielinski’s fifth-minute corner at a freezing San Siro to end a mini-crisis for Luciano Spalletti’s injury-ravaged side and put them four points behind champions Inter Milan.

Former league leaders Napoli looked assured despite missing a host of starters including star striker Victor Osimhen, defensive lynchpin Kalidou Koulibaly and Italy forward Lorenzo Insigne and are back on track after two home defeats at the hands of Atalanta and Empoli.

However, they survived a late scare following a wave of late Milan pressure when Franck Kessie’s late leveller was disallowed following a VAR check, with Olivier Giroud ruled to have played a part in the goal while on the floor in an offside position.

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That sparked fury from Milan fans in the stands, whose team were also missing a number of first-team players, among them starting centre-back Simon Kjaer who is out for the season.

Stefano Pioli’s side have been bumped down to third following that controversial ending but are level on 39 points with Napoli as four teams battle for the ‘Scudetto’ with Atalanta lurking a further two points back in fourth.

They all now head into the final midweek round of fixtures before the Christmas break hoping to keep pace with Inter in Italy’s most exciting title race in years.