Napoli had the idea start against Feyenoord and it was all downhill from there, as they crashed out of the Champions League to Shakhtar Donetsk.
See how all the action unfolded on the LIVEBLOG.
Napoli had the idea start against Feyenoord and it was all downhill from there, as they crashed out of the Champions League to Shakhtar Donetsk.
See how all the action unfolded on the LIVEBLOG.
The Partenopei knew the only chance of qualification was to win and hope Manchester City beat Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine. News filtered through that Shakhtar were 2-0 up within 33 minutes and that sapped all belief from the game in Rotterdam too. They are heading for the Europa League instead.
Lorenzo Insigne joined Faouzi Ghoulam and Arkadiusz Milik on the injury list, missing his first competitive start in 60 matches, so Piotr Zielinski stepped in. Feyenoord missed -Arie van der Heijden, Eric Botteghin, Ridgeciano Haps, Karim El Ahmadi and Miquel Nelom.
It was the perfect start, as within 90 seconds an Amadou Diawara free kick was knocked down with Dries Mertens unable to get the final touch, but Zielinski blasted it into the roof of the net from close range.
Mertens went on a mazy run through a crowd of players only for the finish to be deflected for a corner, then his assist was turned back by Jose Callejon and Marek Hamsik came sliding in, but a desperate Renato Tapia tackle cleared off the line.
Toornstra’s volley hit the side-netting and Feyenoord got a surprise equaliser, as Steven Berghuis whipped a great cross in from the right for a precise Nicolai Jorgensen header into the far bottom corner.
Almost simultaneously, news filtered through that Shakhtar Donetsk had taken a 2-0 lead over Manchester City. Callejon had penalty appeals waved away and Berghuis blasted over from a tight angle.
Hamsik blasted off target from distance after the restart, as did Boetius from the D, and Malacia did well to stop Allan tapping in as the goalkeeper rushed off the line. However, the lack of action from Ukraine sapped all the energy out of this game.
Callejon’s curler was plucked out of the air and Mertens couldn’t make the most of an Adam Ounas through ball. Ounas was felled by a reckless Tonny Vilhena tackle and received his second yellow card of the game.
Despite going down to 10 men, Feyenoord turned it around completely, as the Napoli defence switched off on a corner, allowing the St Juste header from eight yards.
Feyenoord 2-1 Napoli
Zielinski 2 (N), N Jorgensen 33 (F), St Juste 91 (F)
Feyenoord: Vermeer; Nieuwkoop (St Juste 76), Van Beek, Tapia, Malacia; Amrabat, Vilhena, Toornstra; Berghuis (Larsson 72), Jorgensen, Boëtius
Napoli: Reina; Maggio (Mario Rui 64), Albiol, Koulibaly, Hysaj; Allan (Rog 60), Diawara, Hamsik; Callejon (Ounas 74), Mertens, Zielinski
Ref: Oliver (ENG)
Sent off: Vilhena 83 (F)