Played
November 22, 2011 7:45 PM GMT
Stadio San Paolo — Napoli
Referee: D. Skomina
Attendance: 57575
November 22, 2011 7:45 PM GMT
Stadio San Paolo — Napoli
Referee: D. Skomina
Attendance: 57575
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| Napoli | 1.20 | 1.12 | 3.40 | 3.45 | 1.01 | 3.45 |
| Draw | 5.40 | 6.50 | 3.25 | 3.25 | 17.00 | 3.35 |
| Manchester City | 29.00 | 46.00 | 2.20 | 2.10 | 50.00 | 2.26 |
Top of the Match
Edinson Cavani
Napoli
Napoli
Edinson Cavani
Napoli
Napoli
Flop of the Match
Joe Hart
Manchester City
Manchester City
Edin Dzeko
Manchester City
Manchester City
Goal.com Rating 
Fans' Rating Napoli 2-1 Manchester City: Edinson Cavani hits double to leave visitors' Champions League hopes hanging by a thread
The Uruguayan striker struck in each half to take the visitors' destiny out of their own hands, despite Mario Balotelli's ninth goal in 10 matches
By George Ankers
Getty Images
Napoli dealt Manchester City's hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League a severe blow by recording a 2-1 victory at San Paolo in an exciting, end-to-end Group A match.
Edinson Cavani was the home hero with goals in either half. He recorded the opener after 20 minutes from a corner, his flicked header poorly defended by Aleksandar Kolarov on the post, before Mario Balotelli struck back with a tap-in after the half-hour.
The winner came just after the break when the Uruguayan put away a sumptuous sidefooted finish from Andrea Dossena's low pass, to seal a result that sees Napoli leapfrog City in the standings, one point ahead of the Premier League leaders going into the final matchday.
The Citizens will now need to overturn Bayern Munich in their last group game and hope that bottom side Villarreal can upset the odds by recording their first points of the group phase against Napoli.
Roberto Mancini recalled Edin Dzeko and David Silva to the side after leaving them out of the starting XI at the weekend, as well as bringing Kolarov, who so impressive in the home leg against the Italians, at left-back. Walter Mazzarri made one change to his line-up, with Walter Gargano replacing Blerim Dzemaili in midfield in a full-strength home formation.
City started the match in commanding form and came close when Mario Balotelli curled a shot wide from the edge of the area, but let their concentration slip a little after 10 minutes when Marek Hamsik was allowed space to meet a cross from the right – the visitors lucky that the Slovak headed straight at Joe Hart.
The home side, buoyed by their first chance, then nearly carved out a beautiful goal. On a furiously fast counter-attack, Ezequiel Lavezzi steamed forward in from the left, played a glorious one-two with Cavani, before firing just wide.
Napoli completed their seizure of the initiative by notching the opener in slightly awkward style. After Hart touched over the bar a rasping 30-yard effort from Gokhan Inler, Cavani met the resulting corner just short of the near post with a flicked header, which then took touches off both the flailing Kolarov and Hart to bounce in at the near post.
City looked rattled as the Italians settled down, backed by a vociferous home crowd, to defend deep and frustrate the Premier League leaders. But those tactics backfired when Salvatore Aronica fluffed a clearance, passing it straight to Silva in the box. The Spaniard’s shot was parried by Morgan De Sanctis but Balotelli was on hand to tap in the simplest of finishes on the rebound.
A few minutes later the same scene nearly repeated itself when Kolarov sped past Silva on the left, picking the ball up from him on his way, and aimed a powerful effort at De Sanctis, whose block went loose, but Cavani was back in his box to get there before Dzeko and clear to avert another defensive disaster.
After the break, Napoli came out with fire in their bellies. Andrea Dossena slipped into space on the left, supplied by Lavezzi, and then cut a pass back into the area, where Cavani dispatched a cool sidefooted finish past the slow-to-react Hart to restore the hosts’ lead straight after the interval.
City were slow to recover but came close to creating an opportunity just after the hour with Silva’s smart free-kick from the right flank narrowly evading the lurking Dzeko and Balotelli.
Napoli should have extended their lead when Christian Maggio hared down the right wing and delivered a probing cross to which Hart offered only a feeble punch, but Lavezzi was unlucky to slip at the crucial moment and could not capitalise on the mistake.
Lavezzi had another bite of the apple a minute later, Hamsik having found some space and attemped to release him. His marker, Vincent Kompany, slipped to allow the Argentine to race into the area, but Hart stood firm to block his strong shot and keep the visitors within reach.
With City scrambling, Cavani nearly turned provider for the killer goal when he produced a sublime cross-field pass from deep, even while being brought down by Kompany, to find Hamsik. The Slovak took advantage of a slight deflection off the defender to jink through and shoot low, but his effort was just slightly too wide and it came back off the post.
Immediately after, Balotelli finally broke Napoli’s defensive line to find himself one-on-one with De Sanctis, but the keeper reacted smartly to deflect his shot to safety, much to the striker’s frustration.
The home side then pelted back upfield with Maggio this time breaking into the box and bearing down on Hart, but the impressive keeper provided too big a barrier for the wing-back to seal the win.
The game had become frantic, and City pushed forward again with the substitute Samir Nasri let loose in the inside-right channel gloriously by Silva. The Frenchman’s cross sat up invitingly for Balotelli but he headed over.
City threw everything they had at the Italians but there was no repeat of previous last-minute miracles and they now stare down the barrel of elimination from Europe's elite club competition.
Edinson Cavani was the home hero with goals in either half. He recorded the opener after 20 minutes from a corner, his flicked header poorly defended by Aleksandar Kolarov on the post, before Mario Balotelli struck back with a tap-in after the half-hour.
The winner came just after the break when the Uruguayan put away a sumptuous sidefooted finish from Andrea Dossena's low pass, to seal a result that sees Napoli leapfrog City in the standings, one point ahead of the Premier League leaders going into the final matchday.
The Citizens will now need to overturn Bayern Munich in their last group game and hope that bottom side Villarreal can upset the odds by recording their first points of the group phase against Napoli.
Roberto Mancini recalled Edin Dzeko and David Silva to the side after leaving them out of the starting XI at the weekend, as well as bringing Kolarov, who so impressive in the home leg against the Italians, at left-back. Walter Mazzarri made one change to his line-up, with Walter Gargano replacing Blerim Dzemaili in midfield in a full-strength home formation.
City started the match in commanding form and came close when Mario Balotelli curled a shot wide from the edge of the area, but let their concentration slip a little after 10 minutes when Marek Hamsik was allowed space to meet a cross from the right – the visitors lucky that the Slovak headed straight at Joe Hart.
The home side, buoyed by their first chance, then nearly carved out a beautiful goal. On a furiously fast counter-attack, Ezequiel Lavezzi steamed forward in from the left, played a glorious one-two with Cavani, before firing just wide.
Napoli completed their seizure of the initiative by notching the opener in slightly awkward style. After Hart touched over the bar a rasping 30-yard effort from Gokhan Inler, Cavani met the resulting corner just short of the near post with a flicked header, which then took touches off both the flailing Kolarov and Hart to bounce in at the near post.
City looked rattled as the Italians settled down, backed by a vociferous home crowd, to defend deep and frustrate the Premier League leaders. But those tactics backfired when Salvatore Aronica fluffed a clearance, passing it straight to Silva in the box. The Spaniard’s shot was parried by Morgan De Sanctis but Balotelli was on hand to tap in the simplest of finishes on the rebound.
A few minutes later the same scene nearly repeated itself when Kolarov sped past Silva on the left, picking the ball up from him on his way, and aimed a powerful effort at De Sanctis, whose block went loose, but Cavani was back in his box to get there before Dzeko and clear to avert another defensive disaster.
False hope | Balotelli equalised but City suffered defeat in Naples
After the break, Napoli came out with fire in their bellies. Andrea Dossena slipped into space on the left, supplied by Lavezzi, and then cut a pass back into the area, where Cavani dispatched a cool sidefooted finish past the slow-to-react Hart to restore the hosts’ lead straight after the interval.
City were slow to recover but came close to creating an opportunity just after the hour with Silva’s smart free-kick from the right flank narrowly evading the lurking Dzeko and Balotelli.
Napoli should have extended their lead when Christian Maggio hared down the right wing and delivered a probing cross to which Hart offered only a feeble punch, but Lavezzi was unlucky to slip at the crucial moment and could not capitalise on the mistake.
Lavezzi had another bite of the apple a minute later, Hamsik having found some space and attemped to release him. His marker, Vincent Kompany, slipped to allow the Argentine to race into the area, but Hart stood firm to block his strong shot and keep the visitors within reach.
With City scrambling, Cavani nearly turned provider for the killer goal when he produced a sublime cross-field pass from deep, even while being brought down by Kompany, to find Hamsik. The Slovak took advantage of a slight deflection off the defender to jink through and shoot low, but his effort was just slightly too wide and it came back off the post.
Immediately after, Balotelli finally broke Napoli’s defensive line to find himself one-on-one with De Sanctis, but the keeper reacted smartly to deflect his shot to safety, much to the striker’s frustration.
The home side then pelted back upfield with Maggio this time breaking into the box and bearing down on Hart, but the impressive keeper provided too big a barrier for the wing-back to seal the win.
The game had become frantic, and City pushed forward again with the substitute Samir Nasri let loose in the inside-right channel gloriously by Silva. The Frenchman’s cross sat up invitingly for Balotelli but he headed over.
City threw everything they had at the Italians but there was no repeat of previous last-minute miracles and they now stare down the barrel of elimination from Europe's elite club competition.
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Goal
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Assist
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Penalty Shootout Miss
Yellow Card / Red Card
Red Card
Substitution IN
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Fans' Flop of the Match
Match News
Top Scorers
| Player | Goals | Penalties | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Cristiano Ronaldo Striker Real Madrid |
12 | 0 |
|
Robert Lewandowski Striker Borussia Dortmund |
10 | 1 |
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Thomas Müller Striker Bayern Munich |
8 | 1 |
|
Lionel Messi Striker Barcelona |
8 | 0 |
|
Burak Yılmaz Striker Galatasaray |
8 | 0 |
