Napoli 1-0 Trabzonspor: De Guzman goal confirms progression

Date: 26th February 2015 at 11:25pm
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Jonathan De Guzman NapoliNapoli defeated Trabzonspor 1-0 at the Stadio San Paolo on Thursday evening in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League Round of 32.

In a one-sided affair, the Azzurri dominated the game and scored the only goal of the match in the first half after Jonathan De Guzman followed up to slot in a rebound from Jose Callejon’s volley.

As expected, it was the home side who got out of the blocks quicker and dominated from the first minute. Unsurprisingly the first real chance fell for Napoli, when Higuain held off the defence to release Dries Mertens. The Belgian winger flashed the chance high and wide from a narrow angle.

Jonathan De Guzman gave Azzurri the deserved lead. A swift counter attack saw a long ball releasing Jose Callejon, the Spaniard unleashed a venomous volley which Hakan Arikan could only palm out to De Guzman. The Dutch midfielder took the easy opportunity presented to him and poked in the rebound.

A few minutes later it was the same combination that almost doubled the advantage. Following fine work down the left hand side, De Guzman picked out Callejon in the box whose side footed volley drew out a fine save from Arikan.

Trabzonspor tried to fight back and draw level, a cross from the left side found Oscar Cardozo, the striker laid it off for Fatih Atik whose first time volley just flashed wide of the near post.

Not happy to settle for an aggregate score of 5-0, the Azzurri kept pouring forward and De Guzman remained a thorn in the visitors side. After breaking free down the left side, the Dutchman’s cross just evaded Callejon’s stretched boot.

The minnows did manage to find the back of the net only to see it chalked off for offside. A rare attacking foray saw Zengin curl a shot at Rafael’s goal, the Brazilian keeper was equal to it but could do nothing with the follow up, only for it to be rightfully called back for offside.The first half ended with Napoli firmly in control and Trabzonspor limited to shots from distance at best.

The second period began with Napoli stamping their authority again, Rafa Benitez’s men showed no signs of slowing down.

It took a tight offside call to deny the Azzurri a two goal advantage. Mertens lofted a delightful ball to Callejon on the right flank, the Spaniard’s first-time pass across the box was tapped home by Higuain. However, the linesman raised his flag to deny them.

Callejon was denied on numerous occasions by Arikan in the second half on a night that surely seemed jinxed for the winger. After being picked out in the box, the Spanish national unleashed a volley from close range only to see the keeper prevent him from doubling the lead. Then moments later, the winger’s effort from the edge of the area managed to beat Arikan only to strike the foot of the post and go wide. Callejon’s last involvement was to draw out another top quality save from the visiting keeper.

For the remaining of the match Trabzonspor failed to trouble Napoli, as they comfortably closed the game out and got ready for the Round of 16.

 

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