Manager Antonio Conte opted to substitute De Bruyne in the 73rd minute of the match, bringing on Eljif Elmas.
Scott McTominay and Rasmus Hojlund were also brought off at the same moment, but it was De Bruyne’s reaction that was notable, as the Belgian walked straight to the bench, without acknowledging his manager in any way.
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De Bruyne shows nerves of steel to net ‘huge goal’ at Milan
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“I tried to bring in fresh players for one-on-one situations because Milan were closing down a lot.
“I swapped the striker for (Lorenzo) Lucca and nothing happened… You make substitutions to try and do something good. I think they were the right changes.”
He has scored three goals in his five appearances for Napoli so far – but even his status within the game was not enough to yield any sympathy from his new boss.
Napoli sit second in the table, level on points with Milan with four wins and one loss from their opening five matches.
But they have been shipping goals – and with a crucial Champions League match to come this week against Sporting CP, Conte knows his side need to improve fast.
“We’ve conceded a few more goals lately, seeing as we did the two goals against Pisa, the two goals today, and the goal against Fiorentina,” he added.
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Estupinan concedes penalty as Milan reduced to 10 after VAR check
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“Defensiveness has always been our strength, we’ll have to be good at improving.
“Coming here with this performance and playing with this quality against Milan, who are a tough and physically strong team… If they close down, it becomes difficult. It has to give us a good feeling as a team.”
The reigning Serie A champions follow that with another home game on Sunday, against Genoa.
