Napoli 3-2 Leicester: Foxes pay for slack defending

Napoli have progressed from the group stage of the Europa League on six occasions

Leicester City were made to pay for their slack defending as hosts Napoli advanced in the Europa League at their expense.

The Foxes had started the evening in pole position to advance from Group C but will now drop into the Europa Conference League knockout play-offs in February.

A dramatic conclusion to the evening saw Leicester almost given a late reprieve because of events over 1,000 miles away in Poland, when a stoppage time penalty was awarded to Legia Warsaw in their fixture against Spartak Moscow.

But Tomas Pekhart's spot-kick was saved by Spartak goalkeeper Aleksandr Selikhov, to ensure his side progressed as group winners instead of slipping down to third.

Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers will be aware his side contributed heavily to their own downfall against an injury-ravaged Napoli side.

Adam Ounas' early goal set the tone for an error-strewn display, with Caglar Soyuncu's ill-advised pass beginning the passage of play that saw the Algeria winger register his first Napoli goal since April 2019.

Ryan Bertrand was at fault as Luciano Spalletti's side extended their lead, playing Andrea Petagna onside, with the forward in turn squaring for Eljif Elmas to tap home. But the Foxes responded in superb fashion with Jonny Evans driving in an immediate response after a free-kick was only partially cleared and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall levelling matters with a superb left-foot volley from the edge of the penalty area.

However, another defensive lapse, from a Leicester side whose last clean sheet came on the opening day of the Premier League season, proved decisive.

Bertrand, Harvey Barnes and Timothy Castagne were all guilty of not marking tightly enough as Giovanni di Lorenzo picked out Elmas, who allowed the ball to run across his body before driving it into the bottom right corner.

Familiar failings cost Foxes

Leicester travelled to Italy in the knowledge that several permutations, including a defeat, could have seen them advance, while Napoli knew that only a win would suffice.

And while Napoli shook off some patchy Serie A form to achieve their objective, Leicester's struggle for consistency, and the passive defending which has underlined an underwhelming campaign so far, continued.

On paper the Foxes' strong starting XI, including the likes of Youri Tielemans and Jamie Vardy, looked more than capable of having the measure of a side shorn of Kalidou Koulibaly, Victor Osimhen and Lorenzo Insigne amongst others.

But there was little evidence of that on the pitch, bar a 20-minute period at the end of the first half when they recovered from a two-goal deficit.

While James Maddison struck a post and Evans emerged as the only Leicester defender worthy of credit, they have now conceded two goals or more in five of their past six matches and worryingly also have a combination of Covid-19 cases and illness in the squad to contend with.

Player of the match

ManolasKostas Manolas

Napoli

Squad number44Player nameManolas

Squad number7Player nameElmas

Squad number33Player nameOunas

Squad number37Player namePetagna

Squad number2Player nameMalcuit

Squad number5Player nameJuan Jesus

Squad number14Player nameMertens

Squad number13Player nameRrahmani

Squad number20Player nameZielinski

Squad number11Player nameLozano

Squad number4Player nameDemme

Squad number6Player nameMário Rui

Squad number22Player nameDi Lorenzo

Squad number1Player nameMeret

Leicester City

Squad number22Player nameDewsbury-Hall

Squad number6Player nameEvans

Squad number10Player nameMaddison

Squad number29Player nameDaka

Squad number7Player nameBarnes

Squad number9Player nameVardy

Squad number8Player nameTielemans

Squad number25Player nameNdidi

Squad number1Player nameSchmeichel

Squad number11Player nameAlbrighton

Squad number27Player nameCastagne

Squad number4Player nameSöyüncü

Squad number42Player nameSoumaré

Squad number5Player nameBertrand

Line-ups

Napoli

Formation 4-2-3-1

1Meret

22Di Lorenzo13Rrahmani5Nunes Jesus6Mário Rui

4Demme20Zielinski

11Lozano33Ounas7Elmas

37Petagna

1Meret22Di Lorenzo13Rrahmani5Nunes Jesus6Mário Rui4DemmeBooked at 77minsSubstituted forManolasat 78'minutes20Zielinski11LozanoSubstituted forMalcuitat 45'minutes33OunasSubstituted forMertensat 63'minutes7Elmas37PetagnaBooked at 33mins

Substitutes

2Malcuit14Mertens21Politano25Ospina44Manolas72Boffelli74Costanzo82Vergara

Leicester

Formation 4-2-3-1

1Schmeichel

27Castagne6Evans4Söyüncü5Bertrand

8Tielemans25Ndidi

10Maddison22Dewsbury-Hall7Barnes

9Vardy

1Schmeichel27Castagne6Evans4Söyüncü5Bertrand8TielemansSubstituted forSoumaréat 77'minutes25Ndidi10Maddison22Dewsbury-HallSubstituted forAlbrightonat 89'minutes7BarnesSubstituted forDakaat 72'minutes9Vardy