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Played
November 22, 2011 2:45 PM EST
Stadio San Paolo — Napoli
Referee: D. Skomina
Attendance: 57575
November 22, 2011 2:45 PM EST
Stadio San Paolo — Napoli
Referee: D. Skomina
Attendance: 57575
Top of the Match
Edinson Cavani
Napoli
Napoli
Edinson Cavani
Napoli
Napoli
Flop of the Match
Edin Dzeko
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 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 its first points of the league phase.
City started the match in commanding form and came close when Mario Balotelli curved a shot wide from the edge of the area, but let its concentration slip a little after 10 minutes when Marek Hamsik was allowed space to meet a cross from the right – the visitors were lucky that the Slovak headed straight at Joe Hart.
The home side, buoyed by its 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 a rasping 30-yard effort from Gokhan Inler over the bar, 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.
City looked rattled as the Italians settled down, backed by a vociferous crowd, to defend deep and frustrate the Premier League leaders, but sitting back 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.
After the break, Napoli came out with a fire in its belly. 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 and renew Mancini’s headaches.
Napoli should have extended the 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 capitalize 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 past and shoot low, but his effort 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 the striker’s clear 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 loosed in the inside-right channel gloriously by Silva. The Frenchman’s cross sat up invitingly for Balotelli but he headed over.
City threw everything it had at the Italians but there was no last-minute miracle and it now stares down the barrel of elimination.
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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 its first points of the league phase.
City started the match in commanding form and came close when Mario Balotelli curved a shot wide from the edge of the area, but let its concentration slip a little after 10 minutes when Marek Hamsik was allowed space to meet a cross from the right – the visitors were lucky that the Slovak headed straight at Joe Hart.
The home side, buoyed by its 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 a rasping 30-yard effort from Gokhan Inler over the bar, 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.
City looked rattled as the Italians settled down, backed by a vociferous crowd, to defend deep and frustrate the Premier League leaders, but sitting back 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.
After the break, Napoli came out with a fire in its belly. 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 and renew Mancini’s headaches.
Napoli should have extended the 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 capitalize 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 past and shoot low, but his effort 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 the striker’s clear 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 loosed in the inside-right channel gloriously by Silva. The Frenchman’s cross sat up invitingly for Balotelli but he headed over.
City threw everything it had at the Italians but there was no last-minute miracle and it now stares down the barrel of elimination.
Follow Goal.com on
to get the latest soccer news directly. Check out Goal.com's page; be part of the best soccer fan community in the world!
Goal
Own Goal
Penalty
Penalty Missed
Yellow Card
Assist
Penalty Save
Penalty Shootout Goal
Penalty Shootout Miss
Yellow Card / Red Card
Red Card
Substitution IN
Substitution OUT
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Goal.com Rating
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Match News
Top Scorers
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|---|---|---|---|
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Striker Barcelona |
14 | 4 |
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Mario Gomez
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7 | 0 |
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6 | 0 |