UEFA Champions League report: Napoli 2-0 Villarreal- Cavani and Hamsik down the Yellow Submarine
Napoli beat Villarreal 2-0 to register their first UEFA Champions League win of the 2011/12 campaign at the Stadio San Paolo on Tuesday, September 27, 2011.
Marek Hamsik and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Edinson-Cavani-c11955’s first half strikes proved to be the difference between the two teams as the Azzurri moved to the second spot in the group standings.
Walter Mazzarri made only one change to his starting line-up from the 1-1 draw against Manchester City a fortnight ago. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Christian-Maggio-c9098 in the midfield.
On the other hand, Juan http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Carlos-Garrido-c8443 made wholesale changes to his team from the 2-0 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich in their opening game of the competition. Giuseppe Rossi passed a late fitness test to take part in the game.
The hosts dominated in the opening minutes of the match and could have scored in the 10th minute; Cavani went easily past his marker from the left and fired a shot which was only half blocked by a Villarreal defender and the rebounded effort was volleyed just whiskers away from the near post by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ezequiel-Lavezzi-c13073.
It took just 14 minutes for the Partenopei side to open the scoring; Lavezzi’s delivery from the free-kick was beautifully controlled by Hamsik before volleying it into the back of the net to make it 1-0 for Napoli.
Immediately after the goal, the hosts were awarded a penalty kick after Gonzalo Rodriguez hauled down Lavezzi inside the box and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Cavani stepped up to take the spot kick and sent http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Diego-c11058 Lopez the wrong way to make it 2-0 for the hosts.
Napoli dominated the game throughout the first-half as the Yellow Submarine looked really rusty. The visitors failed to manage a single shot on target and went into the break trailing by two goals.
Villarreal had their first real goal-scoring opportunity immediately after the resumption of second half, as Javier Camunas whipped in a lovely cross from the right flank for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Morgan-De-Sanctis-c26801.
The visitors continued to apply the pressure in the second half, as they nearly won a penalty for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cani-c8305 rifled his shot into the Napoli wall.
The hosts had a wonderful opportunity to go three goals up, as Cavani was played clear on goal after a lovely through ball from Hamsik but the Uruguayan international made mess of it and the Villarreal defender cleared the danger.
The Spanish side looked far better in the second half and created host of goal-scoring opportunities but could not find the back of the net. Villarreal slumped to their second consecutive defeat of the season and are on the brink of getting knocked out of the competition.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Napoli-c40003 will host group leaders, Bayern Munich, in their next game on Tuesday, October 18, 2011. On the other hand, Villarreal will take on Manchester City the same day.
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