India, April 8 -- Substitute Matteo Politano scored late to give Napoli a 1-0 win over fellow title chaser AC Milan and close the gap on Serie A leader Inter Milan.

With Napoli starting the night in third place, one point behind AC Milan and 10 behind Inter, both clubs knew a win on Monday was needed to keep alive their title aspirations.

However, neither showed much urgency or guile in a game that featured few clear scoring chances.

Politano, who replaced Leonardo Spinazzola just five minutes earlier, eventually broke the deadlock with 11 minutes remaining when he fired home a low shot after the Milan defense failed to clear a cross from the left.

Milan poured forward in the final minutes but could not get an equalizer and dropped to...