Serie A leaders AC Milan and second-placed Napoli put some distance between them and defending champions Inter Milan with wins against Cagliari and Udinese, respectively. Simone Inzaghi’s men drew their second successive match and have fallen behind in the title race.
The Rossoneri maintained their lead of three points at the top of the Serie A table with a 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Cagliari on March 19. Midfielder Ismael Bennacer scored the only goal of the night in the 59th minute to extend Milan’s unbeaten run to eight matches in a row.
The Algerian’s long distance-volley proved to be a relief for Milan supporters who had seen several chances missed earlier. The goal was set up Olivier Giroud who failed to take advantage of a gilt-edged opportunity before. Meanwhile, another Milan midfielder Franck Kessie, who is out of the contract in the summer, struck the post from long range.
Milan could have increased their lead going into the final few minutes, but Davide Calabria could only manage a tame finish in a 1v1 situation which led to a blistering counter-attack going in vain. Cagliari nearly drew level-pegging in the 90th minute with a shot from Leonardo Pavoletti that hit the crossbar.
It would have been a huge occasion for the Rossoneri, who marked their third consecutive win and are eyeing their first Serie A title win since 2011, but the match was marked by racist abuse directed towards Milan players Mike Maignan and Fikayo Tomori at the final whistle which turned into an on-pitch shoving match.
“Maignan said to me ‘It’s not possible that we’re hearing these sorts of insults. It’s the first time he’s reacted and that means something bad happened that shouldn’t have happened. Tomori said the same thing,”
said head coach Stefano Pioli after the match.
Milan’s 1-0 keeps Napoli at an arm’s length on top of the standings. The side from Naples earlier posted a 2-1 win against Udinese thanks to a brace of goals from star striker Victor Osimhen.
Meanwhile, reigning champions Inter Milan have slipped up in the title race following a 1-1 draw against ACF Fiorentina.
La Viola opened the floodgates with Lucas Torreira finding the back of the net five minutes after the half-time restart. Internazionale looked set for a grandstand finish when Denzel Dumfries drew them level in the 55th minute but eventually, had to settle for a draw.
Simone Inzaghi’s side are now six points behind Milan but do have a game in hand.
| # | Team | Matches played | Goal difference | Points |
| 1 | AC Milan | 30 | +27 | 66 |
| 2 | Napoli | 30 | +31 | 63 |
| 3 | Inter Milan | 29 | +38 | 50 |
| 4 | Juventus | 29 | +19 | 56 |
| 5 | Lazio | 29 | +16 | 49 |
| 6 | Atalanta | 28 | +19 | 48 |
