Mount Vesuvius erupts! Conte's supersub Politano crushes Milan to revive Scudetto race

The Scudetto race is alive again!

And Antonio Conte's marvellous coaching talent and reaction are to "blame" for that. Napoli's boss made excellent substitutions in the second half to pave the road for his side's massive 1-0 home win over AC Milan in an evenly-matched, rather dull Serie A derby on Monday night.

If not for the late goal, the match between Napoli and Milan would have left neutral fans disappointed. Before the second-half sub Matteo Politano scored the winner eleven minutes from time, only a few classy moves from Kevin De Bruyne and Luka Modric stood out. After conceding that one, Milan kept pressing for an equaliser and created a promising chance in stoppage time, but Rafael Leao's effort went high over the bar.

That breakthrough came late in the game. Mathias Olivera crossed to the back post, where Koni De Winter’s weak header set up Politano, who volleyed in with his left foot from a tight angle to put Napoli ahead and push them to an important win.

After the game played at the mythical Diego Armando Maradona stadium, located not far away from Mount Vesuvius, the league leader Inter are now seven points behind the current champion, Napoli, and nine points behind the Rossoneri. There are seven rounds left until the end of the season.

SERIE A - MATCHDAY 31

Saturday

Sassuolo - Cagliari 2-1 (0-1)

/Garcia 50, Pinamonti 78 - Esposito 30 pen/

Verona - Fiorentina 0-1 (0-0)

/Fagioli 82/

Lazio - Parma 1-1 (0-1)

/Noslin 77 - Delprato 15/

Sunday

Cremonese - Bologna 1-2 (0-2)

/Bonazzoli 90+1 pen - Joao Mario 3, Rowe 16/

Pisa - Torino 0-1 (0-0)

/Adams 80/

Inter Milan - Roma 5-2 (2-1)

/Lautaro 1, 52, Calhanoglu 45+2, Thuram 55, Barella 63 - Mancini 41, Pellegrini 70/

Monday

Udinese - Como 0-0

Lecce - Atalanta 0-3 (0-1)

/Scalvini 29, Krstovic 59, Raspadori 73/

Juventus - Genoa 2-0 (2-0)

/Bremer 4, McKennie 17/

Napoli - Milan 1-0 (0-0)

/Politano 79/