Napoli celebrate on the road as Mertens goes past Maradona
Belgian striker Dries Mertens beats the Argentine’s tally of 115 goals for Napoli, 5 shy of all-time highest scorer Hamsik
SALZBURG: Belgium attacker Dries Mertens beat Diego Maradona’s tally of 115 goals for Napoli to help his side beat Salzburg 3-2 in the Champions League on Wednesday. Mertens, 32, who joined the Italian club in 2013, is now just five goals behind Marek Hamsik who has the all-time Napoli goals record of 121.
Napoli’s first European victory on the road since December 2016 keeps them top of Group E, a point above holders Liverpool who beat bottom side Genk 4-1, with Salzburg in third place on three. “It’s a fantastic evening for us, but we still have to beat Salzburg again in order to qualify,” coach Carlo Ancelotti told broadcasters Sky Italia. “It’s a great night for him (Mertens). Napoli are back to winning a Champions League away fixture after three years and we hope to keep that going now,” he added.
Mertens equalled Maradona’s tally, who reached the number in 188 appearances between 19841991 at the San Paolo Stadium, on 17 minutes. He blasted his effort to the top corner after a deft assist from Jose Callejon. Mertens went one better than Maradona with 25 minutes to play after right-back Malcuit made up for his earlier defensive error with a tidy cross for the Belgian.
LIVERPOOL WIN
GENK: Jurgen Klopp admitted his delight for Alex Oxlade-chamberlain as the midfielder made the most of a rare start by scoring twice in Liverpool’s 4-1 win over Genk in Belgium. The England international, who missed almost all of last season due to injury and has been used sparingly in this campaign, opened the scoring in the second minute at the Luminus Arena. He then scored the visitors’ second, a sumptuous finish also from outside the box, just before the hour.
Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah added further goals for the holders before substitute Stephen Odey pulled one back for Genk.
CHELSEA BEAT AJAX AMSTERDAM: Substitute Michy Batshuayi scored a late winner as Chelsea rode their luck to beat Ajax 1-0 and throw Group H wide open. The Belgium striker fired in off the underside of the bar from close range in the 86th, 15 minutes after coming on as a replacement for Tammy Abraham. Another of coach Frank Lampard’s subs, Christian Pulisic, provided the cross.
Pulisic was left out of the squad entirely when they beat Lille earlier this month. The forward joined Chelsea from Borussia Dortmund for a fee of around $71 million in the close season to become the most expensive American player in history but has struggled for minutes, making only three Premier League starts.“you have to give Christian huge credit because he looked so lively and the assist is just as important as the finish,” Lampard said after the match.
VALENCIA HELD
LILLE: Valencia conceded a stoppage-time equaliser in a 1-1 draw against Lille to miss an opportunity to move into a three-way tie at the top of Group H. Denis Cheryshev put Valencia ahead in the 63rd minute after a pass by Kevin Gameiro following a fast breakaway, but substitute Jonathan Ikoné equalised for the hosts with a shot from inside the area in the fifth minute of injury time.