Enrico Giannini and Leonardo Rossi each scored their first of the UEFA Youth League, but it wasn’t enough as Napoli Primavera lost 3-2 to Rangers U19, the Azzurrini’s second hard-fought defeat of the tournament.
Rangers opened the scoring only 10 minutes into the match. MacKenzie Strachan fired in a rebound after Valerio Boffelli punched away a Rangers free kick.
The home side doubled their lead in the 37th minute after Charlie Lindsay met the cross from James Harkness, driven in from the right wing.
Like against Liverpool in the opening match of the Group Stage, Napoli responded well in the second half, with Giannini pulling one back just before the hour mark.
With Napoli pushing for the equalizer, Robbie Ure put the match away. His ambitious effort took a fortuitous deflection off a Napoli defender and ended up in the top corner.
Nevertheless, the Azzurrini continued to fight and reduced the lead to one (for a second time in the match) in the 86th minute. Rossi poked in his first ever goal for Napoli after Rangers failed to clear the cross from the left side.
Despite seven minutes of stoppage time, Rangers held on for the 3-2 victory. With the loss, Napoli find themselves at the bottom of the table on zero points through two rounds. Liverpool lead the way, having won both of their matches, followed by Rangers and Ajax, who are on three points each.
Napoli will resume UEFA Youth League action on October 4th when they travel to the Netherlands to take on Ajax.
