Napoli eliminates Modric

The two teams… A first half worthy of a do-or-die duel. Napoli and Milan held nothing back, and the Rossoneri opened the scoring in the 5th minute with an overhead kick from Pavlovic that freed Loftus-Cheek in front of goal, forcing Milinkovic-Savic into one of the few saves of the night. Napoli soon took control, while Allegri instructed De Winter to mark Hojlund closely. The Azzurri did the same with Pulisic, but in the 16th minute, Milan had a chance through Saelemaekers , who failed to capitalize on a poorly placed header from Rrahmani

Elmas and Hojlund got going midway through the first 45 minutes, with Maignan making a save from the Dane. Specifically, in the 32nd minute, the Napoli striker produced a wonderful piece of skill, threading a pass through to McTominay , whose right-footed shot went narrowly wide. The action became more exciting as the minutes ticked by, and both teams deserved to capitalize on their chances. Milan had a promising opportunity in the 35th minute through Pulisic , who connected with Saelemaekers from the edge of the box.

However, the cross that reached Rabiot at the far post was poorly controlled by the Frenchman. Nkunku , in turn, launched a great counter-attack, but in the 39th minute, Napoli took a 1-0 lead. Hojlund again controlled the ball, shaking off De Winter and sending in a low cross, finding Neres with an empty net: goal . The Napoli striker finished the first half decisively winning his duel with the Milan defender, as Maignan dived to the near post to clear the ball for a corner.

At the start of the second half, the home fans began to applaud after seeing Modric warm up. However, the key figures on the pitch were the Napoli players. In fact, in the 54th minute, Maignan deflected a powerful shot from Rrahmani outside the box for a corner, and after some scuffles involving fouls by Milan players, first on Politano and then on Juan Jesus , Napoli made it 2-0 through Hojlund . In the 64th minute, the center forward received the ball from Spinazzola and again won his duel with De Winter , who missed the player, and Maignan couldn’t reach him in time.

Despite their two-goal lead, Napoli refused to give up, and before leaving the field, Hojlund proved to be man of the match once again: the Dane raced towards Tomori , stretched out the ball, and fired a left-footed shot, though it lacked accuracy. Meanwhile, the roar of the crowd welcomed Modric onto the pitch in the 75th minute. But soon, the challenges on the field became more pronounced, and tempers flared, although Napoli maintained their composure, and Milan failed to truly trouble Milinkovic-Savic . Then, in the 87th minute, McTominay tried his luck, but his powerful shot sailed high. The seven minutes of added time dragged on, consisting mainly of end-to-end action, until Conte’s men secured the victory and qualified for the final, where they await the winner of Bologna vs. Inter.