Milik, Mertens and Koulibaly show that Napoli can still be Napoli
Napoli secured a place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday evening with a dominant display that would see their game with Genk over as a contest within 38 first half minutes.
The win saw the Azzurri finish the group stage of the competition unbeaten for the first time in their history and was the club’s first win in ten games in all competitions since beating Salzburg in late October.
HAT-TRICK HERO MILIK
Arkadiusz Milik took centre stage as he showed his eye for goal to punish Genk’s mistakes and became the first ever Partenopei player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League.
He opened his account for the evening with a typical poachers goal as he capitalised on a defensive mix-up between Genk’s Jhon Lucumi and Maarten Vandervoort to give his team the lead within three minutes.
Midway through the first-half he again showed his strikers instincts when his clever darting run across the box ensured he would reach Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s cross before Sebastien Dewaest.
He still had plenty of work to do but showed his class as he made a difficult chance look easy, thundering his first time strike past Vandervoort.
He was given the opportunity to complete his hat-trick when Jose Callejon was brought down in the box and didn’t disappoint as he stroked his spot-kick in to the bottom corner sending Vandervoort the wrong way.
The goal made him the seventh player in Champions League history to score three goals inside the first 38 minutes of a game, the last of which was Partenopei target Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
MERTENS SHOWS HIS VALUE
Dries Mertens again showed that he is such an important part of the Azzurri squad and why he would be a huge loss if he leaves when his contract expires in the summer.
He was the focal point of the Partenopei attack with his clever runs opening up space for the players around him and allowing them to flourish.
If there was one criticism on the night it was that his distribution was found lacking on occasion, but despite coming up short his play always showed positive attacking intent.
His goal from the spot with 16-minutes remaining was just what he deserved to cap his 300th appearance in all competitions for the Azzurri.
KOULIBALY RENEWS FAITH IN THE BACKLINE
Until Tuesday evening the Partenopei had only kept one clean sheet since October but Kalidou Koulibaly has continued to show why he is one of the world’s best defenders.
Despite Genk offering little in the way of an attacking threat there were still some nervy moments for the Napoli back line and Koulibaly was always on hand to clean up.
In a slow second half he made several lung busting runs forward with the ball at his feet as he looked to spark some life in to a contest that was petering out.
His performance would have helped to renew some faith in a back four that has come under criticism after a tough run of results.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com
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