FRANKFURT, Germany — Victor Osimhen scored again Tuesday to help Napoli to a 2-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
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Osimhen scores, Napoli beats Frankfurt 2-0 in Champions League
Osimhen had just hit the post and teammate Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had a penalty saved by Frankfurt captain Kevin Trapp as he faced deafening whistles from the home supporters.
Buoyed by Kvaratskhelia’s penalty miss, Frankfurt began pushing forward as the jubilant fans got louder and the game wilder.
Hirving Lozano capitalized on the extra space, racing down the right wing and crossing for Osimhen’s easy finish at the back post. They repeated the trick a minute later, but this time the goal was chalked out for offside.
Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo scored the second goal in the 65th by finishing a wonderful team move with a sweeping, curled shot inside the far post after Kvaratskhelia back-heeled the ball into his path. André-Frank Zambo Anguissa had played the Georgian in with a weighted through ball.
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Frankfurt’s hopes of mounting a comeback were dealt a major blow minutes before when star forward Randal Kolo Muani was sent off for catching Anguissa with his open sole as both went for the ball. It means the French forward will be suspended for the second leg in Naples.
“We tried everything,” Frankfurt midfielder Mario Götze said. “The game flowed against us, also with the red card. It was a killer for us. We didn’t do badly in the first few minutes. They played well in the end.”
Frankfurt coach Oliver Glasner said his team won’t give up.
“We’re not going to raise the white flag in Naples. Many things are possible in soccer,” Glasner said. “It hurts today. We made lots of mistakes. We have to learn from that.”
Counterpart Luciano Spalletti also warned against considering the tie over despite his own team’s clear dominance. Napoli had 17 attempts compared to the home team’s five.
“There’s still a match, we still have to play it,” Spalletti said. “Arrogance is the biggest enemy.”
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Frankfurt supporters set off a large pyrotechnic display behind one of the goals at the start of the game, partly in protest against local authorities after failing to reach agreement on a planned choreography due to safety concerns.
There was a heavy police presence at and around what was considered a high-risk game due to some of the supporters’ urge for violence. Police made nine arrests the night before and were prepared for more trouble later Tuesday.
Napoli’s supporters were shepherded to the stadium in an attempt to keep them away from the home fans, while there was also a large buffer area around their section in the stadium to ensure no contact between the rivals.
Napoli, which leads Serie A by 15 points, seemed rattled early on with uncharacteristic mistakes before Osimhen settled the visitors’ nerves.
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Liverpool crash out of Europa as Ademola Lookman’s Atalanta win 3-1 agg
Liverpool crash out of Europa as Ademola Lookman’s Atalanta win 3-1 agg
Italian Serie A side, Atalanta, on Thursday night knocked out Liverpool from the quarter final stage of the Europa League, with 3-1 goal aggregate.
Liverpool were eliminated from the Europa League despite beating Atalanta 1-0 in Bergamo, Italy via Mohamed Salah‘ lone seventh minute penalty goal.
The 3-0 deficit from the first leg at Anfield last week Thursday had done enough damage.
Nigerian international, Ademola Lookman, made a 80th minute appearance during the game.
Trent Alexander-Arnold cross was handled in the box to give Liverpool hope of upturning the deficit but that was not to be.
As the first half drew to a close, the Egypt forward lofted well wide when put through one-on-one, but Klopp’s side struggled to create meaningful openings in the second period.
It marks the end of a difficult 12 days for the Reds, who drew at Manchester United and lost at home to Crystal Palace to surrender their lead at the top of the Premier League.
Attention will now turn back to the title race with Liverpool sitting third behind second-placed Arsenal and two points off leaders Manchester City.
The league now represents their final chance to give Klopp a fairytale ending to his eight and a half years on Merseyside and add to their success in the Carabao Cup in February.
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Europa: Martinez two penalty saves power Aston Villa into S’final
Europa: Martinez two penalty saves power Aston Villa into S’final
Aston Villa on Thursday qualified for their first major European semi-final since 1982 with a dramatic victory on penalties over Lille in the Europa Conference League.
According to a THISDAY report, an extraordinary shootout after the tie ended 3-3 on aggregate after extra time, Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez – who had been booked earlier for time-wasting – was shown another yellow card for appearing to gesture to home fans.
Martinez, who had already kept out Nabil Bentaleb’s attempt, was allowed to carry on as his initial booking was not carried over into the shootout.
The Argentina World Cup winner then went on to keep out Benjamin Andre’s attempt as Villa won 4-3 on penalties to advance to the last four.
Matty Cash’s late goal in the 87th minute forced an extra 30 minutes after Yusuf Yasici opener in the 15th minute and Benjamin Andre’s 67th strike had seen Lille come from a 2-1 deficit from the first leg to lead the tie 3-2.
But nothing could separate the sides after 210 minutes and two legs, needing penalties to decide the quarter-final.
And it was marred in confusion. Martinez – who saved two spot kicks to send Aston Villa through – had already been booked in the first half for time wasting, and was shown another yellow card during the shootout.
Ever the performer, Martinez had ‘shushed’ the crowd after saving from Remy Cabella, leading to objects being thrown at him. He then gestured again to them, appearing to ask them to stop, and then was booked.
It left many wondering why the accumulation of two yellows did not result in a red. However, rules of the competition state that no yellow cards from the game carry over into shoot-outs, and therefore Martinez was not sent off.
He continued to take part in the penalty shootout, saving the final spot kick from Andre and seeing Aston Villa into their first European semi-final since 1982.
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Court orders Juventus to pay Ronaldo £8.3m
Court orders Juventus to pay Ronaldo £8.3m
Juventus have been ordered to pay Cristiano Ronaldo £8.3m in owed wages by an Italian court.
Ronaldo, 39, agreed to defer wages when football in Italy was halted by the Covid pandemic in the 2020-21 season.
The Portuguese had claimed he was owed more than £17m by his former club.
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The Court of Arbitration said the club should pay what the player would have received after tax and other deductions.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner spent three seasons in Italy with Juventus between 2018 and 2021, helping them win two Serie A titles.
He left for his second spell with Manchester United and after 16 months at Old Trafford joined Saudi club Al-Nassr.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner – awarded to the world’s best player – was ranked by American business magazine Forbes as the world’s highest-paid sportsman in 2023, with earnings of £109m.
Court orders Juventus to pay Ronaldo £8.3m
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