WARSAW, Poland. November 4 (PSN) – Legia Warsaw took part in their fourth game of the group stage in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.
After suffering their first loss, Legia were keen to get back on track but were again defeated by SSC Napoli in Warsaw, seeing them drop to second place in Group C.
The beginning of the game started quite evenly, although it was Legia Warsaw who seemed more focused, and in the 10th minute of play they even managed to take the early lead.
A brilliant run on the left wing by Filip Mladenovic saw Legia bring the ball into a dangerous position in front of Napoli’s goal. The Serb then dribbled past Andre Anguissa and quickly passed to an open Mahir Emreli. The Azerbaijani striker converted the opportunity with a flat shot to beat Alex Meret for the 1:0 lead.
Napoli attempted to respond, with Piotr Zielinski hitting the crossbar in the 17th minute. Aside from that, they were unable to show much resistance against Marek Golebiewski’s squad.
The second half also started well for the hosts. Mladenovic once again pulled back from the left flank, this time sending in a delightful pass to Yuri Ribeiro whose snapshot bounced off the near post.
However, Legia’s control over the game would then begin to wane and it was Napoli who then took the initiative – especially taking advantage of multiple fatal mistakes by Josue. The Portuguese midfielder first fouled Piotr Zielinski in the penalty area, allowing the Pole to be granted a penalty kick to convert and restore the draw.
With a quarter of an hour left before the final whistle, Josue once again repeated a similar mistake, this time fouling Matteo Politano in the penalty box. Dries Mertens, who was introduced from the bench, took the penalty and scored to give the Serie A leaders the lead.
At that point, two comparable mistakes and goals saw the Legionistas completely break down. By the the 79th minute, Hirving Lozano increased the score with a goal of his own to make it 3:1, while Adam Ounas settled the scoreline at the end.
Legia, who came into this fixture as a league leader, have now dropped to second place in Group C while Napoli now reign in first place.
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Legia Warsaw – SSC Napoli 1:4 (1:0)
Goals: Emreli 10′ – Zieliński 51′ (Pk), Mertens 75′ (Pk), Lozano 78′, Ounas 90′
Yellow carded: Jędrzejczyk, Miszta, Josué – Elmas
Referee: Lawrence Visser (Belgium)
Attendance: 25 706
Legia: 31. Cezary Miszta – 6. Mattias Johansson, 4. Mateusz Wieteska, 55. Artur Jędrzejczyk – 5. Yuri Ribeiro, 99. Bartosz Slisz (70, 8. André Martins), 27. Josué, 7. Lirim Kastrati (67, 20. Ernest Muçi), 82. Luquinhas, 25. Filip Mladenović – 11. Mahir Emreli (80, 21. Rafael Lopes)
Napoli: 1. Alex Meret – 22. Giovanni Di Lorenzo, 13. Amir Rrahmani, 26. Kalidou Koulibaly, 5. Juan Jesus – 11. Hirving Lozano (83, 33. Adam Ounas), 4. Diego Demme (65, 68. Stanislav Lobotka), 99. André Zambo, 20. Piotr Zieliński (73, 14. Dries Mertens), 7. Elif Elmas (65, 21. Matteo Politano) – 37. Andrea Petagna (83, 59. Alessandro Zanoli)
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