Soccer

Napoli sink Ajax to keep up 100% record and reach Champions League last 16

Italian side through to knock-out stages with two rounds of group games to play

Napoli's Mexican forward Hirving Lozano celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the Champions League Group A match against Ajax at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Naples. Photograph: Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images

Wed Oct 12 2022 - 19:57

Napoli 4 Ajax 2

Napoli kept up their 100 per cent record in Group A of the Champions League and secured progress to the knock-out stages by beating Ajax 4-2 at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Wednesday.

Early goals from Hirving Lozano and Giacomo Raspadori put the Serie A leaders comfortably ahead by the 16-minute mark and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia added a second-half penalty after Davy Klaassen had pulled one back for Ajax.

The Dutch club made a desperate bid for a share of the spoils as Steven Bergwijn converted an 83rd-minute penalty to bring the score back to 3-2 but a horror defensive error allowed Victor Osimhen to score Napoli’s fourth in the final minute.

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Napoli’s 12-point haul means they are guaranteed a top-two finish in Group A, having scored 17 goals in four matches. Liverpool are second in the group on six points ahead of Wednesday night’s game at Ibrox against a Rangers side yet to pick up a point.

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022

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