Olivier Giroud struck a huge blow for AC Milan in the Serie
A title race with the only goal in Sunday's 1-0 win at Napoli which fired his
team top of the pile.
Veteran forward Giroud diverted home a wayward shot three
minutes after the break at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona to put Milan two
points clear of local rivals Inter Milan.
Champions Inter, who have a game in hand, had claimed the
summit on Friday with a 5-0 thumping of Salernitana but now sit second, a point
ahead of Napoli.
The Frenchman's eighth league goal of the season was his
first away from the San Siro since signing from Chelsea in the summer and came
on an eventful night for the 35-year-old.
"I always try to do my job when I'm in the area, to be
in the right place at the right time," Giroud told DAZN.
"I don't want to talk about the Scudetto right now but
we're hoping to win something this year. We're ambitious and we'll fight to the
end."
It looked as though Giroud wouldn't finish the match midway
through the first half when he was flattened by Kalidou Koulibaly and was down
for over two minutes as medical staff tried to patch up a bleeding gash above
his ankle.
Giroud then clattered into David Ospina seven minutes before
half-time, leaving the Napoli goalkeeper worryingly prone on the grass before
he eventually got up and carried on.
A recovered Ospina did well to tip aside Ismael Bennacer's
low drive just before the hour mark, while Theo Hernandez and Alexis
Saelemaekers could have extended the margin of victory late on in a hugely
impressive display which underlines their title credentials.
It comes after two deeply disappointing draws with bottom
side Salernitana and Udinese which had allowed Napoli to lead the league on
goal difference heading into this week's matches.