napoli brilliance too much for legia published: thursday 1 october 2015, 23.01cet legia 0-2 napoli dries mertens helped himself to a third goal in two outings as maurizio sarri's side registered a second consecutive victory in group d.
dries mertens nods napoli in front – his third strike in two group d games substitute gonzalo higuaín secures second consecutive partenopei win legia suffer first european home defeat in four warsaw outings this season ın-form legia forward nemanja nikolic benched next games: legia v club brugge, midtjylland v napoli (22 october)
dries mertens and gonzalo higuaín struck in each half as napoli ended legia warszawa's three-game winning run at home in europe this season to maintain their own perfect start to the uefa europa league group d campaign.
having triumphed in all three uefa home matches this term – all by a one-goal margin – the hosts could approach matchday two in confident mood. however, napoli arrived in warsaw after recording their joint-biggest european victory two weeks ago, beating club brugge 5-0 in naples.
the polish outfit surprisingly began the contest without in-form striker nemanja nikolic, who has notched ten goals in as many 2015/16 league games. even so, it was henning berg's charges who created the first opening. aleksandar prijovic pounced on a mis-hit back pass by kalidou koulibaly before finding ıvan trickovski who failed to find the target. soon after, prijovic almost caught napoli goalkeeper gabriel off his line. the visitors responded on 27 minutes when david lópez had an effort cleared off the line.
napoli took control after the interval and broke the deadlock via mertens's powerful header at the near post after meeting josé callejón's right-wing cross. the belgian international had struck twice last time out and continued his goalscoring streak in poland.
trickovski, tomasz brzyski and substitute nikolic all threatened as the legionisci sought a route back into the match. however, legia custodian dušan kuciak twice had to deny allan from close range before maurizio sarri's men doubled their advantage with an emphatic higuaín finish. the argentina ace evaded two challenges on the edge of the box before smashing the ball into the top corner with his right boot to ensure top spot in the section.
