Mertens – Napoli
Napoli overcame an early deficit to finish 3-1 in a victory against Sparta Prague in the Europa League.
Sparta provided a tough test for Napoli despite going without a win in nine away matches in European competition.
The game unraveled instantly with chances for both sides, as Walter Gargano laid a pass to Dries Mertens in the fifth minute but the Belgian fired his effort high and wide. Sparta answered instantly with a dangerous cross nearly finding Lafata in the box two-minutes later.
Calls for handball were made by Sparta against Henrique in the 13th minute which led to a corner kick. The ensuing set-piece was sloppily cleared by Napoli and thumped in by Husbauer off of the left post to give the Czech side an early lead.
With continual pressure from both ends, a series of fouls were committed by both sides. Mertens quickly restarted play from a foul with a pass to Gonzalo Higuain, who’s one time chip into the box for Hamsik was chipped off the crossbar before Jose Callejon volleyed the rebound off of Costa’s arm for an ensuing penalty kick. Higuain, who missed a penalty against Chievo, converted from the spot to briefly silence his critics and equalize.
For a second time in the match, Napoli hit the frame of the goal when Callejon volleyed a poorly headed clearance by Brabec.
Once again Sparta answered quickly when Dockal initiated a dangerous play into Napoli’s box that was weakly cleared to the top of the 18 yard box. Koulibaly then blocked venomous a shot from the a dangerous angle to keep his side safe.
Napoli continued to pressure into the end of the 1st half with multiple crosses into the box by Callejon and Mertens, with the latter having a shot saved on half time by Bicik. Brabec should have scored from a corner kick but his glancing header flew well wide.
The Azzurri finally found their go ahead goal when Dries Mertens finished an amazing move by Higuain early in the second half. The Argentine beat two players on the right wing before surging into the box to square a pass to the Belgian.
A near third goal came after a pass found Gargano at the top of the box, who made a dangerous curling effort to the bottom corner which Bicik fumbled to Hamsik, but the Slovakian could not settle in time to capitalize.
Mertens scored another in the 65th minute, but was promptly given a yellow card for using his hand to deflect Callejon’s cross into net. Koulibaly could have added yet another for Napoli after a missed headed effort amidst questions of offside.
Sparta’s Costa could have redeemed his early mistakes when he headed a set-piece cross just a meter wide of Napoli’s goal just two minutes later.
In the end, Napoli would create far more dangerous chances in the second half, with Callejon causing more trouble for Sparta’s defence with a deflected shot troubling Bicik in the 77th minute.
Mertens provided far more trouble for the Czech side however, when his tricky step-overs allowed him to beat two defenders into the box and the winger cooly fired home Napoli’s third goal of the match.
A spectacular effort from Gargano in the final minutes forced a great save by Bikic, ultimately proving that the Italian side deserved all three points. By the full-time whistle, Napoli finished with 10 shots on target and delighted the home fans with a first win in their stadium this season.
