Kvaratskhelia helps ‘ice cold’ Napoli secure narrow victory at Union Berlin
BERLIN — Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskheli helped an “ice-cold” Napoli secure a narrow Champions League victory at Union Berlin on Tuesday, laying on the game’s only goal for Giacomo Raspadori in a 1-0 away victory.
The Georgian stepped up in the absence of star striker Victor Osimhen and was dangerous throughout, slicing through the Union defence to set up Raspadori midway through the second half.
The victory — Napoli’s second in three group stage matches — boosts the Italian side’s chances of reaching the knockouts, while Union are stranded in last place with no points after three losses.
Visiting manager Rudi Garcia said “we had to be patient and in the second half we did better — and scored a great goal.”
“We’ve won twice away from home [but] there’s still a long way for us to go to qualify.”
Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo told Sky Sports: “We wanted this win — we showed how strong of a side we are.”
Goalscorer Raspadori said although his team “could have done better” against Union “an away win like this in the Champions League is always good”.
“We knew it would be difficult.”
“Napoli didn’t have many chances but they were ice cold” Union captain Christopher Trimmel told broadcaster DAZN.
Union coach Urs Fischer told reporters after the game it was “brutal to leave the field as the loser after the way we played, we had a grip on Napoli”.
The Swiss coach said Kvaratskhelia was the difference between the sides.
“It’s not possible to defend a player of his quality for 90 minutes.”
Osimhen out
Napoli travelled to the German capital without offensive talisman Osimhen, the Nigeria striker having torn his hamstring while on international duty.
Union left centre-back Leonardo Bonucci, who signed on a free from Juventus in the summer, on the bench despite the Italian captain having played 29 matches against Napoli in a storied career.
Another summer arrival from the Italian league, Germany defender Robin Gosens, who arrived from Inter Milan, recovered in time to make the starting XI.
Spurred on by a fiery home crowd of 70,000 in Berlin’s sold out Olympic Stadium, Union started brighter, forcing the Italian champions to concede some early corners as the home side pushed high and had Napoli on the back foot.
Union had the ball in the net after 24 minutes when Chelsea loanee David Fofana, carving down the right flank, found Gosens, who tapped in, but the Ivorian had been offside in the build up.
Napoli had few attacking opportunities in the opening half, seemingly missing Osimhen’s penetration up front and manager Rudi Garcia reacted at halftime, switching out Jens Cajuste for Eljif Elmas in midfield to give his side some attacking spark.
Quiet in the first, Kvaratskhelia danced his way into the penalty box early in the second, but failed to find a teammate in a penalty area crowded by red Union shirts.
Kvaratskhelia continued to trouble Union down the left and created the opener out of nothing, shedding Trimmel and cutting back to Raspadori, who snuck a looping strike in at the near post.
Fischer made all five changes as the clock wound down but Napoli held firm for a hard-fought away victory.
Union, who suprisingly qualified for the Champions League after just their fourth season in the top division, have now lost ten matches in a row in all competitions.
Trimmel observed: “It was a good step for us in the right direction. We were brave.”
“It’s a bitter feeling because we weren’t missing much.”