Victor Osimhen left in September and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia departed in January.

Now it's almost April and Antonio Conte's Napoli — somehow — are still in contention for the Serie A title.

Matteo Politano and Romelu Lukaku scored first-half goals, Alex Meret saved a second-half penalty from Santiago Gimenez, and Napoli beat visiting AC Milan 2-1 for a statement victory.

Luka Jovic pulled one back for Milan in the 84th to set up a tense finale during which the visitors came close to equalising.

While Lukaku has filled the void left by Osimhen after the Nigeria striker left to sign a loan deal with Galatasaray, it has taken a group effort to replace Kvaratskhelia's output after the winger signed with Paris Saint-Germain.

One player picking up playing time in Kvaratskhelia's absence has been Politano. He seized upon a ball over the top from Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo and evaded three defenders to blast in a long-range shot 63 seconds in at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Then Billy Gilmour set up Lukaku all alone in front of the goal to double the advantage after less than 20 minutes – helped by poor positioning from Milan defender Kyle Walker.

It was Lukaku's 400th goal for club and country.

The result kept Napoli within three points of leaders Inter Milan, who edged Udinese 2-1 earlier on Sunday.

Marko Arnautovic took advantage of a rare start at centre forward, opening the scoring early in the first half by redirecting in a cross from Federico Dimarco.

Davide Frattesi quickly doubled the lead with a nearly identical goal.

Centre back Oumar Solet pulled one back for Udinese midway through the second half with a long, curling shot for his first Serie A goal.

Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer then palmed away a dangerous effort from Lorenzo Lucca to preserve the lead and also made a save on a close-range effort from Solet in added time.

Atalanta's fading title hopes took another hit, going down 1-0 at eighth-placed Fiorentina.

The Bergamo club dropped nine points back in third with their second consecutive loss.

Fiorentina striker Moise Kean scored his 16th goal of the season at the end of the first half.

"In terms of the title race, I would say we're done," Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini said.

"It was an impossible dream that I think had already faded away during the match with Inter."

Also, Cagliari moved six points clear of the relegation zone by defeating last-placed Monza 3-0.