Napoli complete Trabzonspor mission
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Article summary
SSC Napoli 1-0 Trabzonspor AŞ (agg: 5-0)
Jonathan De Guzmán profited from a rebound to score the only goal as the visitors were spared another heavy defeat.
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• Jonathan De Guzmán pounces on loose ball for only goal of the game
• Hakan Arıkan does solid work to prevent Napoli extending their lead
• José Callejón frustrated to see long shot crash against post
• Black Sea club show spirit without grabbing consolation goal
• Follow Friday's round of 16 draw on UEFA.com, with live streaming from 13.00CET
SSC Napoli avoided disaster in the second leg of their UEFA Europa League round of 32 tie as they ended Trabzonspor AŞ's slim hopes with a 1-0 triumph in Italy.
Having prevailed 4-0 in Turkey, Napoli never looked set for a difficult night – though coach Rafael Benítez had warned them ahead of the match not to think too far ahead. However, even the Spaniard's thoughts must have turned to Friday's round of 16 draw after 19 minutes, when Hakan Arıkan's save from José Callejón teed the ball up for Jonathan De Guzmán to make it 5-0 on aggregate.
Trabzonspor were eager to avoid another humiliation, and Hakan Arıkan played his part as he fended off another Callejón effort soon afterwards. At the other end, Fatih Atik was close to making it 1-1, with his low drive from the edge of the box going just the wrong side of the post. He also had the ball in the net later following another burst of pressure, only for his effort to be chalked off for offside.
Gonzalo Higuaín had a similar sinking sensation just before the hour mark as the assistant referee flagged again, and Hakan Arıkan made further saves from Jorginho and Callejón, who had reason to believe that the fates were conspiring against him when he planted another effort against the post. Trabzonspor never looked much like scoring, though Rafael Cabral was given a minor scare when Mehmet Ekici went close from a free-kick.