Napoli 2 - 1 Manchester City - Match Report
Roberto Mancini's return to his home nation was a disappointing venture for the Italian after Manchester City were on the wrong end of two Edinson Cavani goals.
Roberto Mancini's return to his home nation was a disappointing venture for the Italian after Manchester City were on the wrong end of two Edinson Cavani goals. From the kick off, the stadium was a cauldron of noise, the smoke of the flares shrouded the pitch for the first five minutes but the City players appeared to be keeping their heads. Mancini opted for a 4-4-2 formation to try and give a more defensive option against Napoli's very offensive 3-4-2-1 choice, but it was City who took the game to the Neapolitans. With only three minutes on the clock, Pablo Zabaleta was bursting down the left hand side to deliver a cross into the box where three Manchester City players were available, unfortunately Dzeko's first touch after he met the ball was very poor and the chance was eradicated. City maintained the ball well in their own half and took a slow build up to attack their opponents. This option culminated in numerous shots being fired from 20 yards or further, with Toure, Balotelli and Dzeko all trying their best. Balotelli came the closest from the trio striking an accurate shot that just passed the post, despite being under pressure from numerous Napoli defenders. Despite City's best efforts to break Napoli down, whilst committing men forward on their slow attack, Napoli broke with sheer pace and effectiveness. As soon as the ball broke free, the midfield were feeding the forward three of Hamsik, Lavezzi and Cavani with ease and the trio worked together brilliantly to create some good chances. Hamsik was given a golden opportunity after a Lavezzi cross found him unmarked in the 18 yard box, but he could only head the ball straight down the throat of Joe Hart. Even deep lying midfield Gokhan Inler thought he'd take a page out of City's book by attempting a venomous 25-yard effort that Hart had no option but to tip over the bar and it was from the resulting corner that the deadlock was broken. Lavezzi's tight corner was met by Cavani just off the inside of the post, his connection on the ball was unable to be cleared by Aleksander Kolarov leaving Joe Hart all at sea to help the ball into the net. After the goal Napoli started strengthening their back line in true Italian style. Whilst City maintained possession well when trying to break forward the final third they were thwarted each time. Once again the players resorted to more long range shots but didn't test the Napoli keeper, Morgan de Sanctis. What Napoli couldn't recover from however was a fatal error from defender Salvatore Aronica. The Italian had plenty of time on the ball after he was given the opportunity to clear the ball from danger but toe poked it to the path of David Silva who calmly squared the ball to Mario Balotelli to convert into an empty net. With the goal, City gained confidence and Napoli looked a little less comfortable on the ball. City's attacks started making more ground but could not make the most of this decent run of play before the break. After only 4 minutes from the kick off of the second half Napoli were back in front and it was that man Edinson Cavani who started and completed the move. The Uruguayan picked up the ball around 35 yards out, placed it to Andrea Dossena who found Cavani again, with a cut back ball, to allow the striker to score. It was a difficult chance to convert but Cavani moved his body well to get good contact on the strike. Throughout the game Napoli continued their dominance on the counter attack with numerous chances being created from their ability to break at not a moments notice. Ezequiel Lavezzi had two excellent chances to extend the lead for Napoli, the first created from Joe Hart's spill of a Christian Maggio cross but the second was the result of a fantastic cross field pass from Marek Hamsik. Lavezzi received the ball with aplomb, taking it past Kompany but Joe Hart stayed strong in goal to keep the ball out. The Neopolitan's weren't done yet though. Hamsik struck the post after a chance in very similar fashion to the aforementioned Lavezzi's was presented to him and Maggio was put into a one-on-one situation with Joe Hart, with Hart coming out on top. It was the introduction of Sergio Aguero, in replacement of Edin Dzeko, that gave City a further attacking spark as they chased the point they desperately needed to keep their Champions League hopes alive. The son-in-law of Napoli legend, Diego Maradona, added more attacking threat to the Manchester City front line and linked up well with Balotelli, Silva and Nasri. With only 10 minutes left on the clock the Manchester team poured players forward. Mario Balotelli saw two chances go untaken after his headed effort rose over the bar and a volley taken directly from a corner was scooped up by de Sanctis in the Napoli goal. Even the introduction of Adam Johnson which saw a myriad of players attack the Napoli goal could not break down the Italian's defence and the final whistle blew at 2-1. The result leaves an uphill battle for City as they're final fixture of the campaign is not only against leaders, Bayern Munich, but Napoli must also drop points against bottom team Villareal to give Mancini's team any chance of qualifying for the next round.