Napoli advance to Champions League quarters for first time

Napoli's Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen (C) scores his side's second goal past Frankfurt's German goalkeeper Kevin Trapp (L) during their UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg at the Diego-Maradona stadium in Naples, Italy, on March 15, 2013. (AFP)
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Updated 16 March 2023
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Napoli advance to Champions League quarters for first time

  • It is the first time since 2006 that three Italian teams have progressed to the quarterfinals of Europe’s premier club competition

NAPLES: Napoli beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 on Wednesday to reach the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in their history — and making it three Italian teams in the final eight.

Victor Osimhen continued his fine scoring record with a goal in each half and Piotr Zielinski converted a penalty in the second half as Napoli advanced 5-0 on aggregate.

It is the first time since 2006 that three Italian teams have progressed to the quarterfinals of Europe’s premier club competition.

There are no further restrictions on teams from the same country facing each other so Napoli could be pitted against Inter Milan or AC Milan when the draw is made on Friday. The other teams in the final eight are Bayern Munich, Benfica, Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid.

Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0 in Wednesday’s other match to advance 6-2 on aggregate.

Napoli were brimming with confidence heading into the match at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona as it had a 2-0 lead from the first leg in Germany and appears to be a lock for the Serie A title.

There was trouble in Naples during the day as around 600 Frankfurt fans descended on the city, despite not being allowed into the match, but there didn’t appear to be any more incidents at the stadium.

Napoli pressed hard for the goal that would all but seal its place in the quarterfinals and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who has been a revelation this season, had a couple of chances in the first half but Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp kept his team in the match.

The deadlock was broken in first-half stoppage time when Stanislav Lobotka gathered a loose ball and sent it through to Matteo Politano, who whipped in a cross from the right for a towering header by Osimhen.

Osimhen — who also scored in the first leg — doubled his tally on the night, eight minutes after the break, as he tapped in a cross from Giovanni Di Lorenzo, following good work by Kvaratskhelia in the buildup.

And Napoli were out of sight in the 64th when Zieliński was tripped by Djibril Sow and the midfielder dusted himself down to drill the resulting penalty down the middle.


Supersub strikes again as Sesko gives Man United win at Everton

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Supersub strikes again as Sesko gives Man United win at Everton

  • The defeat was a blow to Everton’s hopes of a place in next year’s European competitions and left it languishing in ninth, behind Brentford and Bournemouth

LIVERPOOL, England: Manchester United supersub Benjamin Sesko scored 13 minutes after entering the field to give his side a 1-0 win over Everton in the Premier League on Monday.
It was the third time in four games that Sesko has scored after coming off the bench and secured points for United.
“I believe in me and so do the other players as well,” Sesko told Sky Sports. “They know what they are going to get when I arrive in the game. It’s up to me to deliver of course.”
His goal with 19 minutes remaining finished off the slickest move of an otherwise stodgy game.
Bryan Mbeumo controlled Matheus Cunha’s superb long ball and played a perfectly weighted pass to the feet of Sesko, who steered the ball past Jordan Pickford with aplomb.
“It was a great finish,” United interim coach Michael Carrick said. “It was a ruthless finish. I liked the way he put it away with real confidence. It was great play from Cunha and Mbeumo to set it up and we are dangerous on the break.”
Until then defenses had been on top and the lack of attacking fluency was not helped by a heavy pitch that appeared to slow down both teams.
The result took fourth-placed United three points clear of Chelsea and Liverpool. United was three behind Aston Villa.
It also extended Carrick’s unbeaten run to six games since he replaced Ruben Amorim on Jan. 13.
The defeat was a blow to Everton’s hopes of a place in next year’s European competitions and left it languishing in ninth, behind Brentford and Bournemouth and eight points adrift of Chelsea and Liverpool.
David Moyes’ men have gone seven games without a win at their new Hill Dickinson Stadium.
“Generally we did very well in lots of bits,” Moyes said. “We got done on the counterattack and they ran away and got the goal that was there. We put in a great effort to get the goal but lacked the quality to make it count.”