Despite dealing with several absences and conceding an early goal, Napoli still managed to earn a large victory over Legia Warsaw thanks to a superb second half. The Azzurri returned to winning ways in Europa League after two missteps. They have gained control of the group regardless of what will happen in Leicester City-Spartak Moscow later tonight.
The home side drew first blood just ten minutes as a quick action took Napoli by surprise. Flip Mladenovic escaped down the left flank and teed up an unguarded Mahir Emreli for an easy goal. The Partenopei reacted right away, and Piotr Zielinski smashed the crossbar with a vicious shot at the 17th minute. Two minutes later, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa wriggled free on a corner kick, but he did not finish properly. A little later, Elijf Elmas almost slotted it home, but Cezary Miszta pulled it out of the bottom corner.
Zielinski got his goal early in the second half, drawing and converting a penalty kick. Napoli grabbed the lead with 15 minutes to go in the same fashion, as Josue hit Matteo Politano while attempting an acrobatic move in the box. Dries Mertens stepped up to the plate this time and converted with a Panenka, returning to the stat sheet after months.
Napoli kept pushing and pulled away. At the 79th minute, Andrea Petagna muscled his way through defenders and set up a Hirving Lozano’s tap-in in the empty net with a square ball. The returning Adam Ounas rounded out the score in the stoppage time, beating the goalkeeper after a pair of highly technical touches from close range.