NAPLES, Italy (Reuters) – Napoli earned an exhilarating 3-2 dwelling win over Leicester City on Thursday to succeed in the Europa League knockout levels as Group C runners-up behind Spartak Moscow.
Spartak gained 1-0 at Legia Warsaw to safe an computerized last-16 berth whereas Napoli face a playoff in opposition to one of the third-placed groups within the Champions League dropping into Europe’s second-tier competitors after the winter break.
Third-placed Leicester go into the third-tier Europa Conference League the place they’ll enter a playoff with one of the competitors’s runners-up for a last-16 berth.
Adam Ounas fired Napoli right into a fourth-minute lead with a crisp low shot and the Serie A facet seemed to be in cruise management after Eljif Elmas made it 2-0 with a tap-in after unselfish work from Andrea Petagna.
Sloppy defending value the house twice in fast succession earlier than halftime, nevertheless, as Jonny Evans drilled in a unfastened ball within the twenty seventh minute and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall volleyed within the equaliser together with his first purpose for Leicester.
North Macedonia playmaker Elmas put Napoli again in entrance shortly after the break, taking a tame-looking cross previous a static defence earlier than he steered the ball previous goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
Spartak, who edged Napoli to prime spot with a superior head-to-head document, superior after their goalkeeper Alexander Selikhov saved a stoppage-time penalty with ahead Zelimkhan Bakaev netting a Seventeenth-minute winner at Legia.
Bakaev curled in a superb low shot from the sting of the penalty space nevertheless it was Selikhov who emerged as Spartak’s hero, parrying Tomas Pekhart’s spot-kick which might have knocked the Russian facet out had the Czech ahead scored.
Real Sociedad additionally booked a playoff berth as they completed runners-up in Group B due to a 3-0 dwelling win over PSV Eindhoven which took the Spanish facet above the 1988 European Cup winners.
Mikel Oyarzabal fired Sociedad forward with a Forty third-minute penalty and added the second earlier than Alexander Soerloth netted in stoppage time to finish a snug victory.
(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Ed Osmond)
