AMSTERDAM--Napoli suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in the opening Group F fixture in the Europa League on Thursday evening.
Dani De Wit was the hero for the “Cheese Heads” in the second half, whose squad had been decimated due to COVID-19, and the “Partenopei” dominated possession throughout the match but they were not able to beat Marco Bizot in the Alkmaar goal.
Defences were on top for the opening 10 minutes as both teams struggled to carve out clear scoring opportunities, then Napoli striker Victor Osimhen had a goal correctly disallowed for offside in the 14th minute.
Alkmaar winger Jesper Karlsson had arguably his team’s best chance of scoring in the first half when he shot straight at Alex Meret in the Napoli goal.
Matteo Politano had a deflected shot saved by Bizot while efforts from Dries Mertens and Osimhen were easily saved by the AZ Alkmaar goalkeeper soon after.
As the first half progressed, Napoli kept on attacking whereas AZ were content with sitting back and defending.
The Neapolitans came close to scoring in the 35th minute, when Osimhen centred for Mertens, who curled his shot wide. Elseid Hysaj tried his luck soon after but to no avail.
Napoli had one more chance to score just before half-time from a Mertens freekick but Osimhen could not get a proper connection on the ball.
The early minutes of the second half carried on in the second vain as the first, with chances rarely being created. Kalidou Koulibaly had a chance with a header but the ball went over the bar.
AZ scored against the run of play after 57 minutes with a well-worked team move. Jonas Svensson combined with Yukinari Sugawara and the Norwegian right-back crossed for De Wit, who placed the ball to right of Meret in the Napoli goal.
Politano had three shots from distance that were deflected but neither effort found the back of the net. Fabian Ruiz also tried his luck from outside of the box but he shot straight at Bizot. Giovanni Di Lorenzo had one more chance from a set-piece in stoppage time but his effort went wide.
PSV Eindhoven surrendered a half-time lead against Granada to start the Europa League group stage with a poor 2-1 defeat. Roger Schmidt brought Mohamed Ihattaren into the starting eleven along with Jorrit Hendrix after Cody Gakpo and Pablo Rosario came down with COVID.
Granada gave PSV a scare in the first minute with Jorge Molina firing the ball over the bar. After that, PSV improved and Donyell Malen should have scored after an excellent Mario Götze cross.
On the stroke of half-time, PSV did take the lead with Denzel Dumfries heading a free-kick into the path of Götze, who smashed the ball into the net. His second goal in two games.
However, Götze did not appear for the second half with Nick Viergever coming on. The change saw PSV surrender control of the game, and Granada equalised in the 57th minute. Molina was left unmarked to strike at the back post with the ball hitting the bar and then Yvon Mvogo before finding the net.
Ten minutes later, PSV’s defence could not stop Machís charging forward before hammering an unstoppable shot into the top corner.
Malen came close to finding an equaliser quickly but Granada goalkeeper Rui Silva and the post prevented the striker. That was the closest PSV came as Granada held on to claim the win. Next week, PSV will need to improve when they face Omonia Nicosia in Cyprus.
Steven Berghuis missed a penalty and Marcos Senesi saw red as Feyenoord Rotterdam’s Europa League campaign started with a 0-0 draw against Dinamo Zagreb.
Feyenoord headed to Zagreb looking to continue their unbeaten run which stretches back to December last year when Porto beat the Rotterdammers 3-2 in the Europa League.
After seven minutes, Feyenoord had a great chance to take the lead when Mark Diemers was brought down. However, Steven Berghuis saw his spot-kick saved.
Justin Bijlow was forced into a good save in the 22nd minute, but Feyenoord were the stronger side. Bryan Linssen wasted a great chance just before the break when he could only head tamely at the Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper from close range.
Linssen missed another great chance early in the second half as Feyenoord remained the most likely team to score.
In the 73rd minute, though, Senesi saw red with a high knee leading to his second yellow card. From that point, Zagreb poured forward in search of the winning goal. Justin Bijlow kept the game at 0-0 with two big saves and Feyenoord clung on to a draw by the end. The result that could have been more for Feyenoord, but they remain unbeaten. In the group’s other game, CSKA Moscow drew 1-1 at Wolfsberger.
