Napoli, Sevilla close in
> Celtic also look good to qualify for Champions League group stages
NAPOLI earned a solid 2-0 victory over nine-man Nice to take a big step towards the Champions League group stage yesterday, while a late Wissam Ben Yedder strike gave Sevilla a 2-1 advantage on Istanbul Basaksehir in the qualifying playoff first legs.
Vincent Koziello and Alassane Plea were both sent off for Nice in the 79th minute, the former for a reckless tackle on Piotr Zielinski and the latter for complaining about his teammate’s dismissal, to end a miserable night for the French outfit against the dominant hosts.
Elsewhere Celtic thrashed FC Astana 5-0 to all but seal their place in the competition proper, while Hapoel Beer Sheva saw off Maribor 2-1 and Olympiacos came from behind to beat Rijeka 2-1.
“It was good, but if we look at the game, we could have won by more. But 2-0 is good, and there is the second leg to come,” said
Napoli defender Raul Albiol (top) win the heading duel from Nice’s forward Alassane Plea yesterday. Dries Mertens, who netted the first goal.
Napoli dominated the early exchanges at a sweaty San Paolo and the Belgian forward struck in the 13th minute, racing onto a long Lorenzo Insigne through-ball, evading goalkeeper Yoan Cardinale and finishing from a tight angle.
French outfit Nice have not featured in the European Cup since 1960 and were unable to field their two biggest names, Mario Balotelli due to injury and Wesley Sneijder, who has just joined and was not fit enough to play.
They were getting into the game when Cristophe Jallet brought down Mertens on the edge of the area and Napoli were awarded a penalty, which Jorginho converted.
Frustration boiled over for Nice who paid the price when Koziello’s dangerous tackle was met with a straight red card, while Plea saw a second yellow as he remonstrated with referee Szymon Marciniak.
Both will be banned for next week’s return leg, but midfielder Jean Michael Seri believes Nice can get an unlikely result to qualify. “We held on well when we were down to nine men. We’re going to take the positives from this game, there were some good things,” he said. “We made mistakes that led to goals. But we can do it at home.”
Sevilla earned an important away win against Istanbul Basaksehir in torrential rain, with Escudero opening the scoring in the 16th minute with a powerful low drive across the face of goal which nestled in the far corner. Basaksehir levelled in the 64th minute through Eljera Elia, before Ben Yedder flicked in substitute Jesus Navas’ cross with six minutes to go.
The second leg ties take place on Tuesday Aug 22 with the winners reaching the group stage. – dpa