Napoli lose friendly 2-1 to Brest on Milinkovic-Savic debut

Lorenzo Lucca scores for the second game in a row and Vanja Milinkovic-Savic made his Napoli debut, but Antonio Conte’s men lost 2-1 to Stade Brestois.

This was the opportunity for new goalkeeper Milinkovic-Savic to make his debut following the transfer from Torino.

Summer additions Sam Beukema, Kevin De Bruyne, Lorenzo Lucca and Noa Lang were also in the starting XI, but players like Scott McTominay, Alessandro Buongiorno, Alex Meret, Matias Olivera and Billy Gilmour were not fully fit.

David Neres had several early chances, while Giacomo Raspadori and Beukema efforts were straight at the goalkeeper.

It was Brest who broke the deadlock with Ludovic Ajorque surprising Amir Rrahmani, then the same striker was ready to nod in a Romain Del Castillo cross.

De Bruyne was unlucky not to get one back before half-time, as his acrobatic back-heel flick thumped the upright.

Lucca did get Napoli on the scoresheet from close range on the Matteo Politano assist, after an initial Giovanni Di Lorenzo run.

Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa almost equalised from another Politano cross, this time his header skimmed the woodwork, and De Bruyne’s scorcher forced a tough save.

Napoli 1-2 Brest

Ajorque 28, 32 (B), Lucca 63 (N)

Napoli: Milinkovic-Savic; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Beukema (Obaretin 72), Spinazzola (Mazzocchi 83); De Bruyne, Lobotka, Raspadori (Anguissa 67); Neres (Politano 61), Lucca (Lukaku 67), Lang (Zanoli 76)