Osimhen Pushes Napoli Into Champions League Round Of 16

Napoli eased into the knockout stages of the Champions League with two first-half goals in a 2-0 home win over Braga.

The Italian champions qualified second in Group C behind Real Madrid thanks to Serder Saatci’s clumsy own goal and Victor Osimhen’s first goal since early October, both which came in the first half.

Walter Mazzarri’s side would have gotten through even with a single-goal defeat but in the end comfortably qualified for the next round, snapping a six-match winless streak at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

A first win in Naples since beating Udinese in late September made sure that Napoli finished the group stage on 10 points, six ahead of Braga who drop down to the Europa League.

Braga knew that they had to win by at least two goals in order to leapfrog Napoli and Bruma wasted a great chance to put the away side into the lead with just two minutes on the clock, lashing wide from close range after confusion in the Napoli area.

However, their task was made that much taller in the ninth minute, when the unfortunate Saatci tripped over Matteo Politano’s low cross and sent the ball spinning towards his own goal.

Braga goalkeeper Matheus did his best to keep the scores level but could only claw the ball out after it had already crossed the line.

Napoli pushed for a second but had a superb Alex Meret save to thank for Braga not pulling level with a Ricardo Horta rocket from distance Tuesday.