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Napoli put on a convincing display as they picked up a Champions League knockout away win against Frankfurt.
With a goal scored in each half, one penalty missed, and one goal ruled out for offside, Napoli easily overcame 10-man Frankfurt 2-0.
Napoli were the guests of Frankfurt at the Deutsche Bank Park. II Partenopei replicated their dominance in Serie A and the group stages of the competition this season, brushing past their host, who put little in the way of obstruction.
Kvaratskhelia missed a penalty in the 36th minute of the game, but Osimhen fired the visitors ahead in the 40th minute. He scored again in the 43rd minute, but it was ruled out for offside.
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Frankfurt received another blow in the 58th minute of the game when Randal Kolo Muani was shown red. Luciano Spaletti's men took advantage immediately, with Giovanni Di Lorenzo scoring a well-worked goal in the 65th minute.
Napoli would now take a two-goal lead into the second leg of the tie, with a Frankfurt comeback hampered by Muani's dismissal.
How it happened
Napoli started on the front foot but did not reap the fruits of their dominance before Frankfurt got a foothold in proceedings and began to pose threats of their own.
The game ebbed and flowed with no big chance of note until the 34th minute when Hirving Lozano’s shot crashed the bar. The loose ball fell into the path of Aurelio Buta, who thought to clear the ball calmly. Unbeknownst to him, an industrious Osimhen was hunting the stray ball, and he clattered the Nigerian's outstretched leg, leading to a penalty for II Partenopei.
Kvaratskhelia stepped up to take the spot kick, firing to the left side of the goal, into the path of Kevin Trapp, who guessed right for a brilliant save.
The Nigerian would soon fire Napoli ahead when Stanislas Lobotka played Lozano into the right-hand channel. The Mexican carried the ball close to the edge of the box before he squared to Osimhen, who bundled the ball into the net.
The 24-year-old thought he made it two soon after when Lozano squared the ball to him again for another clumsy finish, but the officials flagged him offside. The climb back was made steeper for the hosts, who were reduced to ten men when Kolo Muani was shown red for a careless stump on Zambo Anguissa.
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Napoli smelled blood in the water and pounced. Zambo Anguissa played a lobbed through-ball into the path of Kvaratskhelia, who controlled in a pirouette before backheeling to the overlapping Di Lorenzo, who buried the ball into the bottom left corner.
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Frankfurt refused to give up, buoyed by their home support, as they tried to reduce the deficit going into the second-leg, but they never managed to breach Napoli's defence.
Napoli emerge as contenders
Napoli put on a display showing their elevated level against Frankfurt, and it comes off the back of an impressive group stage performance where they finished as the team with the most goals scored (20).
II Partenopei are the most dominant team in Europe’s top five leagues, being the only one to have crossed the 60-point mark. If they were not at the start of the season, Napoli have now forced themselves into conversations about the most probable winners of the Champions League.
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