AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic (C) celebrates with his team mate Pato after scoring against Napoli during their Italian Serie A soccer match at the San Siro stadium in Milan February 28, 2011. (Xinhua/Reuters)

 

AC Milan scored three goals in the second half to beat Napoli 3-0, building up their lead in the Italian Serie A to five points.

Napoli went into Monday's eagerly-awaited tussle at the San Siro looking for a vital win which would have taken them level with Milan at the summit of the table.

The pivotal moment arrived four minutes into the second half when Salvatore Aronica handled in the area to concede a penalty and Zlatan Ibrahimovic stepped up to fire the Rossoneri ahead.

Napoli battled hard in an effort to get back into the game but any hopes they had of overturning the deficit were extinguished in a two-minute period as Milan struck twice more.

Former Portsmouth midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng made it 2-0 on 77 minutes before Alexandre Pato found the target to add gloss to the scoreline.

The result takes Milan five points clear of Inter Milan, who climbed above Napoli over the weekend by virtue of a win against Sampdoria.