The results of Eintracht Frankfurt vs Napoli in the first leg of the last 16 of the 2022-2023 Champions League will be discussed here. In the match that was held at Deutsche Bank Park, Tuesday (21/2/2023)
The Partenopei — nicknamed Napoli — opened the scoring in the 40th minute through Victor Osimhen. In the second half, Giovanni Di Lorenzo doubled the score in the 65th minute, seven minutes after Eintracht Frankfurt striker Randal Kolo Muani was sent off by the referee.
Napoli dominated the game from the start. But they needed to wait until the 19th minute to get their first shot on target for the game. In a corner kick situation, a wild ball approached Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who was immediately greeted by him and headed sharply towards the Eintracht goal. However, the goalkeeper managed to ward off the ball with alacrity.
In the 35th minute, Napoli received a penalty after Victor Osimhen was fouled by Aurelio Blind. Kvaratskhelia stepped up as executor, but failed to carry out his duties.
The long awaited goal finally arrived in the 40th minute. Napoli attacked from the right flank with a move by Hirving Lozano followed by Osimhen. The striker from Nigeria met Lozano’s pass swiftly in the mouth of the goal and put Napoli 1-0 up.
Only a minute later, Osimhen scored again after repeating the same scheme as Lozano. But this time the goal was disallowed due to offside.
In the 58th minute, Napoli had the advantage because the referee red carded Randal Kolo Muani after colliding with Anguissa. This decision created controversy until Mario Gotze was also shown a yellow card.
The superiority of the number of players is well maximized by Napoli. Slick cooperation between Anguissa and Kvaratskhelia gave birth to opportunities in the penalty box. Kvaratskhelia gave the ball with his heel which was immediately met by captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo to double the visitors’ advantage.
The advantage of two goals and the number of players made coach Luciano Spalletti relax his game. Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia were substituted to make room for Matteo Politano and Giovanni Simeone in the 84th minute.
Until the match ended, no more goals were created. This 2-0 victory also made Napoli get one foot in the 2022-2023 Champions League quarter-finals considering that the second leg of the last 16 will be played at their home ground, Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
