Krzysztof Piatek on Tuesday said that it was “just the start” to his AC Milan career after scoring twice on his full debut as Gennaro Gattuso’s side beat SSC Napoli 2-0 at the San Siro to reach the Coppa Italia semi-finals.
Piatek, signed from Genoa last week as a replacement for Gonzalo Higuain, put the hosts ahead in the 11th minute before doubling the lead before the half-hour mark with a fine individual strike.
It was the second time in four days that Milan had dealt a blow to Napoli’s hopes of winning a trophy this season, after a goalless draw on Saturday at the San Siro ultimately left Carlo Ancelotti’s men 11 points behind Serie A leaders Juventus.
“I expected a night like this. I said that I was ready and I got a brace, but this is just the start,” Piatek told Milan TV.
“Both goals were great, even if they were different. I felt good tonight and it was marvelous playing at the San Siro,” he said.
Five-time winners Milan are to face either Inter or SS Lazio, who play today, over two legs in the last four as they look to go one better than their 4-0 final defeat by Juventus last season.
Piatek did not waste much time in endearing himself to Milan fans, latching onto a hopeful long ball forward from Diego Laxalt before calmly taking a touch and slotting the ball into the bottom corner.
The Polish international continued to torment the visiting defense and made it two in the 27th minute.
Piatek appeared to have few options when he collected the ball on the left-hand side of the area, but he cut inside two defenders before unleashing a powerful drive past Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret.
The 23-year-old has now scored an incredible eight goals in only three Coppa Italia games this season, having scored four for Genoa against Lecce in August last year and a double against Virtus Entella last month.
Lorenzo Insigne looked to be Napoli’s biggest danger, seeing a shot saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma, before firing over the crossbar.
Napoli started to put some pressure on the hosts’ goal in the second half, with Donnarumma saving from Arkadiusz Milik and Adam Ounas.
However, Milan held on to reach the semis, with Donnarumma saving his best stop for last as he denied Ounas again.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later