Italian champions Napoli opened their Champions League campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Braga in an entertaining Champions League Group C clash on Wednesday.
A captain’s goal from Giovanni Di Lorenzo and a late own goal by Braga defender Sikou Niakate, earned Napoli their victory.
There was late heartbreak for SC Braga as Sikou Niakate’s 88th-minute own goal consigned them to a 2-1 defeat in their first Champions League game in a decade.
Serie A champions Napoli led through Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s strike in first-half stoppage time but Braga looked like they had earned a point when Bruma’s brilliant header drew them level in the 84th minute only to be denied in cruel fashion.
The Serie A champions were profligate in an end-to-end first half, but finally broke the deadlock in added time when Di Lorenzo volleyed into the ground and in off the crossbar after Braga only semi-cleared a cross, Eurosport reports.
Victor Osimhen could have had a hat trick by that stage but was denied by Matheus Magalhaes when through one-on-one, had a header tipped onto the post and also struck the bar.
Braga did carry a threat in their first Champions League match in a decade and Napoli’s misses looked to come back to haunt them when Bruma equalised with an excellent header in the 84th minute.
Yet there was a sting in the tale for Braga as Sikou Niakate sliced a cross into his own net to put Napoli back in front.
Pizzi struck the post for Braga in the fifth minute of added time, but there was not to be a second equaliser as they succumbed to defeat. For Napoli, the win takes them top of Group C.
Although creating excess chances in the first half, this was not a particularly impressive performance overall from Napoli. Those chances dried up in the second period and were it not for a fortunate own goal, they would have left with just a point.
Defensively they displayed vulnerability too. Braga had multiple good chances even after going 2-1 down and were incredibly close to drawing level, with Pizzi’s late shot hitting the post and flying across the face of goal.
This goes down in the record books as an away win, something that’s hard to come by in the Champions League and therefore an excellent result for Napoli. But scratch the surface and there are reasons for alarm as the side adjusts to life under new manager Rudi Garcia.
