Eintracht Frankfurt 0-2 Napoli: Luciano Spalletti's side take charge of Champions League Round of 16 tie with fine win
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Updated 21/02/2023 at 22:57 GMT
Napoli's remarkable season continued as they brushed aside Eintracht Frankfurt to take control of their Round of 16 tie. Victor Osimhen notched his 20th of the season just before the break, and Giovanni Di Lorenzo added a second on 65 minutes to put his team in the driving seat. To compound their misery, Eintracht saw Randal Kolo Muani sent off for a reckless foul.
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Victor Osimhen scored his 20th goal of the season in Napoli’s 2-0 victory away to Eintracht Frankfurt that saw them take charge of their Round of 16 Champions League tie.
Eintracht started the first leg well, with a chance falling to Randal Kolo Muani in the fifth minute. With his back to goal, he managed to cleverly flick it by Amir Rrahmani before turning and firing it wide across the face of goal.
Napoli grew into the game, and had a chance in the 35th minute to take the lead after Hirving Lozano hit the post.
Moments later, Aurelio Buta tripped Osimhen, who was chasing Lozano’s rebound, and the referee didn’t hesitate to point to the spot, but Kevin Trapp came up trumps for the hosts, saving Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s penalty.
Napoli continued to push Eintracht before the half-time whistle, and reaped the rewards in the 40th minute as Philipp Max gave the ball away, allowing Lozano to cross it to Osimhen at the far post, who bundled the ball into the back of the net. The goal meant that the striker has now scored in his eighth consecutive start for Napoli.
The hosts were unable to impose themselves early in the second-half, and a straight red card to Randal Kolo Muani for a reckless foul saw them go down to ten men in the 58th minute.
The visitors took advantage of being a man up, and scored their second shortly after. Kvaratskhelia’s clever backheel flick straight into the path of Giovanni Di Lorenzo allowed the Napoli captain to hit the ball first-time straight into the bottom corner.
Up next, Eintracht Frankfurt will take on RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga, while Napoli will turn their focus to Empoli in Serie A.
TALKING POINT: NAPOLI IN COMPLETE CONTROL
There were instances early on in which Eintracht Frankfurt threatened, but make no mistake, this was a match in which Napoli were on cruise control from start to finish. The rare moments that the hosts did have the ball, Napoli's defensive unit stayed solid, playing a consistent off-side trap, and keeping any chances at bay. On the ball, they were direct and quick, which they've regularly shown to be in Serie A this year.
Eintracht didn't put up the biggest fight, certainly after going a man down, but the usual Champions League contenders should certainly fear this Napoli side, who barely had to get out of second gear to register a 2-0 win. In previous years, they would be labelled a dark horse, but with the way they are playing in both the league and in Europe, it's hard to deny that Luciano Spalletti's side are one of the outright favourites to make it to this year's final in Istanbul.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: KEVIN TRAPP
It usually makes little sense to have a player on the losing team get POTM, but Kevin Trapp ensured that this match wasn’t a much worse showing for the hosts. The keeper made nine saves, including the penalty in the first half. He constantly commanded the box, and bailed his back line out after they made some poor defensive errors.
If Eintracht want any chance of advancing to the quarter-finals, they will have to hope that Trapp is at his best once again, and that the outfield players are capable of going toe-to-toe with this Napoli side.
PLAYER RATINGS
EINTRACHT FRANKFURT: Kevin Trapp 9, Evan Ndicka 6, Kristijan Jakic 6, Tuta 6, Philipp Max 6, Djibril Sow 7, Daichi Kamada 6, Aurelio Buta 6, Mario Gotze 6, Jesper Lindstrom 7, Randal Kolo Muani 5.
SUBS: Ansgar Knauff 6, Rafael Borre 6, Faride Alidou 6, Christopher Lenz N/A.
NAPOLI: Alex Meret 7, Mathias Olivera 6, Kim Min-Jae 8, Amir Rrahmani 7, Giovanni Di Lorenzo 8, Piotr Zielinski 7, Stanislav Lobotka 6, Andre-Frank Anguissa 6, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia 6, Victor Osimhen 7, Hirving Lozano 8.
SUBS: Eljif Elmas 6, Tanguy Ndombele 6, Giovanni Simeone 6, Matteo Politano 6.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
35' - NAPOLI HIT THE POST AND GET A PENALTY! A great ball in sees Lozano through on goal, and his shot rattles the post. Osimhen follows the ball, and ends up getting tripped in the box by Buta. The referee does not hesitate to point to the spot. NAPOLI WITH A BIG CHANCE TO GO IN FRONT HERE!
36' - TRAPP SAVES THE PENALTY! That is not a well taken pen by Kvararskhelia, whose shot is weak into the bottom left corner. Trapp easily reads it, and pushes it aside.
40' - GOAL! EINTRACHT FRANKFURT 0-1 NAPOLI: WHO NEEDS A PENALTY WHEN YOU HAVE VICTOR OSIMHEN?! It's a low ball in from Lozano, and the Nigerian striker taps it home to give his side the lead! He celebrates his second CL goal this season with the away fans.
55' - TRAPP AGAIN: Lozano fires a shot, but Trapp punches away! It's his fifth save of the match!
56' - FRANKFURT A MESS AT THE BACK! And it's Trapp again to the rescue. The home side are sloppy in the back, which allows Napoli to win the ball back in a dangerous area. It is laid off to Kvaratskhelia who takes a shot, but Trapp makes himself big and saves it.
58' - KOLO MUANI WITH THE STRAIGHT RED CARD: IT JUST GOT WORSE FOR EINTRACHT! Kolo Muani is sent off after a reckless foul on Anguissa. Both players are down and getting treatment, but the ref was RIGHT in front of the foul, and he showed no hesitation pulling out that red!
65' - GOAL! EINTRACHT FRANKFURT 0-2 NAPOLI: NAPOLI ARE IN DREAMLAND AS DI LORENZO GETS THE SECOND OF THE NIGHT! It's a clever flick from Kvaratskhelia, and Di Lorenzo hits it first time past Trapp.
KEY STATS
- All three of Eintracht Frankfurt's Champions League games in which they've failed to score have been at home, while 80% of the goals they've conceded in the competition have come in their three defeats.
- Napoli won an away match in the Champions League knockout rounds for the first time, having lost their previous three such games before today's match.
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