AC Milan secured a hard-fought 1-1 draw away at Napoli on Tuesday night, in a game that featured two missed penalties.

The visitors clinched qualification to the Champions League semi-finals, where they could face city rivals Inter.

Mateo Politano failed to send the ball into the back of the net in the 20th minute and just a few seconds later AC Milan were awarded a penalty after a Mario Rui challenge on Rafael Leao.

Giroud stepped up, but Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret denied the AC Milan striker from the spot.

The Frenchman missed another chance to score just before the half an hour mark, but he finally broke the deadlock with a timely goal after being brilliantly set up by Leao in the 43rd minute.

Victor Osimhen handled the ball before scoring late in the first half stoppage time and his goal was disallowed by the referee.

Napoli got off to a strong start in the second half, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia sending the ball over the crossbar in the opening stages.

AC Milan managed to slow the game down and prevented Napoli from creating quality chances despite the hosts dominating possession after the break.

The referee punished Fikayo Tomori after the AC Milan player touched the ball inside the area, but Mike Maignan stopped Kvaratskhelia effort from the spot with 10 minutes to play to deal a huge blow to the Partenopei.

Mathias Oliveira wasted another big chance to equalise late in the game, with his header going just wide of the right post.

Osimhen did head home to level the scores three minutes into the second half's added time, but it was already late to push for a comeback.

AC Milan will take on the winners of the tie between Inter and Benfica. Their local rivals won the first game 2-0 away in Portugal last week.

A special night for Milan

"It was very special for me,"Olivier Giroud said after the game. " I was frustrated with missing the penalty.

"It's been a long time since I missed one, I was very disappointed, but the most important thing is that we stayed in the game.

"Meret made a good save with his foot again, but I never gave up and I thought I would have had another chance. Rafa [Leao] did everything, I was in the right place. Fantastic."

Source: Marca

BDST: 1120 HRS, APRIL 19, 2023
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