Leicester 2-2 Napoli: Victor Osimhen completes comeback from 2-0 to rescue a draw for the Italians
Leicester were left to rue the decisions of the UK Government after they let slip a two-goal lead against Napoli leaving them with a battle to top their Europa League group.
With barely 20 minutes remaining, Leicester were 2-0 up thanks to goals from Ayoze Perez and Harvey Barnes, before a double from the outstanding Victor Osimhen rescued a deserved point for Napoli. Wilfred Ndidi was sent off in stoppage time as Leicester’s frustration bubbled to the surface.
Until last week, Osimhen would not have been able to play in this match as he spent part of the recent international break in ‘red-list’ countries with Nigeria, which would have meant a 10-day quarantine stint on arrival in the UK.
Leicester City let a two-goal lead slip against Napoli in their Europa League opening game
Ayoze Perez got the home side off to a perfect start, scoring inside 10 minutes for the Foxes
The Spaniard (centre) volleyed home calmly from Harvey Barnes’ deep cross to the back post
Napoli though often looked threatening and Kasper Schmeichel saved well from Piotr Zielinski
Striker Patson Daka, on his first Foxes start, saw a goal ruled out by VAR for a narrow offside
Yet after talks with UEFA earlier this week, an exemption was granted to Osimhen, goalkeeper David Ospina, defender Amir Rrahmani and midfielder Elif Elmas. Osimhen took full advantage with two excellent goals, the equaliser arriving in the 87th minute.
In this season’s Europa League, the group winners advance to the last 16, while the runners-up take on one of the lucky losers from the Champions League in the last 32. Leicester face early group leaders Legia Warsaw in Poland on September 30.
‘The crime isn’t giving away the two goals, the crime is if you don’t learn from it – I’m sure that is something this young team will do,’ said Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers. ‘There are things for us to improve on – keeping the ball better for longer periods, if we did that we wouldn’t tire so quickly. It’s a shame we couldn’t close it out.’
A thrilling match was marred by clashes between the sets of supporters, with missiles launched during the second half. A group of Napoli fans then broke the security line to reach the Leicester section after the final whistle, and scuffles followed. Both clubs could face a UEFA investigation.
Earlier, the atmosphere had been excellent and Leicester quickly found their rhythm. Moments after David Ospina had saved from Barnes, the winger crossed for the unmarked Perez, whose far-post volley sneaked in off the body of the former Arsenal goalkeeper.
Leicester had left Jamie Vardy and Youri Tielemans on the bench and at that stage the decision looked to be paying off.
Napoli were struggling with Leicester’s intensity but slowly began to make their extra man in midfield count, forcing the home side to rely on counter-attacks.
Barnes (top) then slammed in a second for Rodgers’ side, somewhat against the run of play
The 23-year-old ran onto Kelechi Iheanacho’s through ball and finished into the bottom corner
Napoli got themselves back into the game with a deft chip from striker Victor Osimhen (centre)
The Nigerian then equalised with three minutes left, climbing superbly to nod past Schmeichel
Man-of-the-match Osimhen, lively throughout, celebrated wildly with assister Matteo Politano
The graphic provided by sofascore.com shows visitors Napoli were good value for their point
A skilful, mobile centre-forward, Osimhen was causing plenty of problems for the recalled Jonny Evans but before the break, his finishing did not match his approach work.
After another Osimhen burst, Kasper Schmeichel and Timothy Castagne did superbly to stop Piotr Zielinski turning in the cross. Then when Zielinski’s corner was poorly cleared, Lorenzo Insigne drove the loose ball wide.
Osimhen put another shot off target and Schmeichel produced a fine save from Hirving Lozano’s point-blank header.
Aware his team were in danger of losing control, Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers sent on Tielemans for Perez to bring order in midfield.
The Napoli crowd were in raptures after the dramatic late equaliser completed the Serie A side’s comeback – they may be investigated by UEFA after clashing with Leicester supporters
Veteran striker Jamie Vardy (left), who came on as a sub, looked annoyed at the final whistle
Rodgers took a point from their Europa League opener, but it could have been three
And the substitute thought he had made an immediate impact just before the hour mark with a delightful pass that Patson Daka drove beyond Ospina from 15 yards, only for VAR to rule it offside by the tightest of margins.
Leicester did not have to wait long to double their lead. Kelechi Iheanacho seized on a poor pass from Giovanni Di Lorenzo and immediately released Barnes, who breezed outside Kevin Malcuit and found the bottom-right corner.
In the 69th minute, Osimhen got the goal his display deserved. After a clever exchange involving Insigne, substitute Elif Elmas and Fabian Ruiz, Osimhen held off Jannik Vestergaard and lifted the ball gently over Schmeichel to revive his side’s hopes.
With three minutes left, substitute Matteo Politano crossed from the right and Osimhen outjumped Caglar Soyuncu – on at half-time for the injured Evans – to glance a header into Schmeichel’s far corner. Then in stoppage time Ndidi was dismissed when he was shown a second yellow card for tugging an opponent’s shirt. ‘I didn’t think the referee was very good all night,’ added Rodgers.
Catch up on all the match updates as they happened from Sportsmail‘s Max Mathews below… with updates from Rangers’ defeat against Lyon too.
