Milan opened the scoring through Frenchman Olivier Giroud (43), before Napoli equalized through Nigerian Victor Osimhen, returning from injury. (90+3).
The two teams missed a penalty kick through Giro for Milan (22) and Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia for Napoli. (82).
Milan will play in the semi-finals with the qualifier from the other quarter-finals between compatriot Inter and Benfica of Portugal, who will meet at the “Giuseppe Meazza” stadium on Wednesday, knowing that Inter won the first leg 2-0..
It is the first time that Milan has reached the semi-finals in 16 years, specifically when it beat Manchester United on its way to the last seventh title in its history, the 2006-2007 season..
This was the third confrontation between the two teams in three weeks. Milan had won the previous two matches 4-0 as a guest in the league, and 1-0 in San Siro in the first leg of the Champions League last week..
The course of the match
- The match started with a pressing and fierce attack by Napoli through Kvaratskhelia’s incursions, Osimhen’s positioning, and Matteo Politano’s shots from outside the penalty area..
- Napoli was seeking an early shocking goal, but his attempt did not succeed, so Milan entered the match after about a quarter of an hour and absorbed the southern club’s impulse..
- “Rossoneri” thought that luck smiled at him when the match referee awarded him a penalty kick after an intervention from Portuguese Mario Roy on Portuguese Rafael Leao, so Giro ran to her, but goalkeeper Alex Merritt was on the lookout and blocked his shot. (22).
- Merritt excelled again in the 28th minute, and in front of Giroud in particular, who missed a goal achieved almost alone..
- Six minutes later, Napoli suffered a double setback, with Politano and Roy injured, so coach Luciano Spalletti replaced them with Mexican Irving Losano and Uruguayan Matias Olivera, respectively..
- The Naples players demanded a penalty kick after Liao interfered with Losano, but the Polish referee, Simon Marciniak, who managed the Qatar 2022 World Cup final, indicated that the game would continue before making sure that it was not there after resorting to the video assistant referee. (36).
- In the midst of Napoli’s attempts to open the scoring, Frenchman Tanguy Ndombele failed to receive a ball on the outskirts of the Milan penalty area, and it reached Liao, who launched it with a quick counterattack in which he passed three players before passing it to Giroud, who fired into the open goal, scoring the first goal. (43).
- Osimhen scored a goal before the end of the first half of the match, but it was ruled out due to a handball by the Nigerian (45+4).
- In the second half, “Kafara” almost equalized, but strangely missed a shot in front of French goalkeeper Mike Mignan. (46).
- The Napoli players tried on more than one occasion to shake Milan’s net, but the defense was difficult to penetrate, especially with the brilliance of David Calabria..
- In the 64th minute, Oliveira missed a strange header in front of an open goal and diverted the ball out of the field.
- There was a glimmer of hope for the hosts in the 80th minute, when the referee awarded a penalty kick after a handball on defender Fikayo Tomori, but Minyan shone in turn, blocking a “Kafara” shot and denying Napoli a draw..
- The hosts scored a late equalizer with a beautiful and powerful header from Osimehn, but it was too late for Napoli to return, and the quarter-final ticket went to Milan.
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