Donnarumma reaches historic milestone as Milan holds off Napoli

At 19 years and 49 days old, AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma became the youngest player in Serie A history to reach 100 appearances on Sunday.

And did he ever mark the occasion.

Donnarumma made four saves - including a dramatic stop from point-blank range deep into second-half stoppage - to preserve a 0-0 draw against Napoli and reinforce his position as one of Europe's pre-eminent young talents.

The scoreless affair was anything but a boring one, with both sides trading chances throughout the 90 minutes.

However, Donnarumma's timely interventions made the difference in a match that may have killed Napoli's hopes of winning a first Scudetto since 1990. Juventus' 3-0 victory over Sampdoria later Sunday left the Partenopei six points behind in the title race.

It was already a special day for the teenage phenom, who surpassed the likes of Francesco Totti and Gianluigi Buffon en route to the milestone.

Buffon only hit triple digits when he was 21 years old.

A baby-faced Donnarumma made his debut in October 2015. It was a bold decision by Sinisa Mihajlovic, then Milan manager, as Donnarumma supplanted veteran shot-stopper Diego Lopez and all but forced the Spaniard to find employment elsewhere.

Donnarumma has since emerged as one of Europe's most-sought after talents, and nearly left the club in the summer after a verbal tug of war between sporting director Massimiliano Mirabelli and super agent Mino Raiola. He eventually signed a four-year contract to remain with the Rossoneri until 2021.

The relationship between supporters and Donnarumma had become strained - fans tossed fake money at him and unfurled insulting banners against the goalkeeper and his family - but a solid string of performances in Milan's goal has calmed the storm.