Milan 2 - Napoli 0: Match recap and player ratings

It was a poor performance all around as the Partenopei were knocked out of the Coppa Italia in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row. After a pedestrian performance against Milan on Saturday, Napoli’s attempt to get back to their winning ways fell flat to say the least. The match was highlighted by a lack of attacking cohesion and poor defensive positioning. There was no sign of Napoli’s trademark passing and fluidity, and at many times seemed as if they were playing together for the first time. After going down 2 - 0 within 30 minutes, Napoli were unable to respond like they has done against Milan back in August.

New Milan striker Krzysztof Piatek made quite the impression in his first start when he got on the end of a beautifully placed Diego Laxalt long ball and drilled it past Meret. While the pass was excellent, Maksimovic terribly misjudged the flight of the ball and allowed Piatek to get behind him easily. Not long after, Piatek got his second of the day after he managed to get behind the Napoli defence once again and drill the ball into the side netting. Insigne looked lively for much of the first half but failed to take advantage of any of his chances much to the delight of the crowd at the San Siro.

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Ancelotti decided to make a change at halftime bringing on Ounas for Allan, who appeared to pick up a nock right at the end of the first half. The second half started promising as Napoli had two dangerous inswinging corners from Gouhlam but both managed to stay out courtesy of last ditch efforts from Gianluigi Donnarumma and Alessio Romangoli. However other than a few corners, Napoli struggled to get any kind of attack going and the introduction of Mertens and Callejon did little to improve things. Milan were clearly the better side tonight but let’s hope Napoli can bounce back this weekend as they return to the San Paolo to face a tricky Sampdoria side.

Meret: 6 Only made 1 save all day but was hardly at fault for either of the goals.

Ghoulam: 4 Great delivery from corners but a very poor performance other than that. Performance somewhat explained why a suspect Mario Rui has continued to start ahead of him.

Koulibaly: 6 Allowed Piatek to get the better of him for the second goal but still a decent performance. Looks more comfortable partnered alongside Albiol.

Maksimovic: 3 Poor judgement and positioning on the first goal and looked shaky for most of the match.

Malcuit: 6 Solid defensively and had a few decent moments especially when Ounas was introduced.

Allan: 5 Largely absent throughout the first 45 and subbed off at halftime with an apparent injury.

Diawara: 4 Too many misplaced passes and a lack of creativity in the center of midfield. Will be interesting to see his involvement going forward with Hamsik back to full fitness.

Ruiz: 5 Showed flashes of brilliance on the ball but these moments were too few and often only in Napoli’s own half.

Zielinski: 6 Stringed together some nice passes but ultimately unable to be a difference maker in the attack. Looked tired by the end of the match.

Insigne: 5 This was a difficult rating to give as he was all too often the only Napoli forward looking to get on the ball and create chances. However, his performance was ultimately highlighted by horrendous finishing .

Milik: 3 Absent throughout the match and committed too many needless fouls.

Ounas: 7 Looked lively when brought on in the second half and would’ve scored a nce swerving goal but was denied by Donnarumma. A rare bright spot tonight.

Mertens: 3 Unable to be a spark off the bench, Mertens looked as disconnected as the rest of the Napoli attack.

Callejon: N/A