Title defense still on for Napoli after dispatching AC Milan

Napoli is still in the hunt to retain its Serie A title after the reigning champion beat Scudetto rival AC Milan 1-0 on Monday.

Matteo Politano came off the bench and, with 11 minutes remaining, lashed home the only goal of the game in front of delighted fans in Naples, as the host racked up a fifth straight win.

Napoli leapfrogged Milan into second place, but still has a battle on its hands to deny Inter a 21st league crown, sitting seven points off the pace with seven matches remaining.

Antonio Conte's team was superior at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, where Politano's second goal of the season decided a largely stodgy contest, not helped by Milan only being able to select star attackers Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic.

"It's a happy moment for us because we're back in second place, I thanked the boys for what they've done this season, as it could have finished badly," said Conte of his side's injury-ravaged campaign.

"We've got back to what we were like last season, we've got to keep going without getting ahead of ourselves."

Milan now trails its local rival Inter by nine points and will, in all likelihood, have to be content with a return to the Champions League.

"I think we're done with the Scudetto race. We're nine behind Inter and Napoli are ahead of us now," said Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri.

"We've got an advantage of a few points for the Champions League, let's try to keep it that way by winning some matches."

Napoli's win came without Romelu Lukaku, who has incurred the wrath of the club hierarchy after staying in Belgium for treatment for a hip injury, while Denmark striker Rasmus Hojlund was ruled out with a stomach bug.

Winter signing Giovane forced Milan keeper Mike Maignan into the best save of the match in the 50th minute with a stinging drive from distance, and there was little more goalmouth action until Politano pounced on Koni De Winter's weak headed clearance with a powerful, and decisive, first-time finish.

Juve eyes UCL spot

Juventus moved to within a point of Serie A's Champions League places with a 2-0 win over Genoa, as the top-four battle heats up.

Taking advantage of fourth-placed Como's goalless draw at Udinese earlier in the day, Juve notched the three points in Turin thanks to Gleison Bremer's fourth-minute header and a 17th-minute strike from the ever-reliable Weston McKennie.

United States star McKennie's fine finish took his Serie A tally to five, equaling his best-ever haul in a single league season back in his first campaign with Juve in 2020-21.

But he showed no interest in that personal statistic when speaking with DAZN after the match, saying "the important thing is getting into the Champions League".

Home fans had to thank substitute goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio for a superb double save that stopped spirited Genoa from getting back into the game, first pawing away Aaron Martin's penalty and then keeping out Vitinha's volley.

Di Gregorio has had a tough second season at Juve, dropped from the first team in February following a series of clangers. He was only in goal on Monday due to starting keeper Mattia Perin coming off at halftime with a calf injury.

"He has some good moments and some tough moments, but we always knew that he was a quality goalkeeper. He knew that his moment would come," said Bremer.

Di Gregorio's stops helped put some distance between fifth-placed Juve and Roma, which trails Luciano Spalletti's team by three points in sixth place after being thumped 5-2 at Inter on Sunday.