Four Napoli players were in action on Monday: Leo Østigård, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Piotr Zielinski and Bartosz Bereszyński.
Much Needed Recovery
Leo Østigård played the full 90 minutes in Norway’s UEFA Euro Group A qualification match against Cyprus. Østigård and Norway responded well after a difficult, come-from-behind defeat to Scotland, a match in which the Napoli defender was at fault for the equalizer. Against Cyprus, Erling Haaland scored a brace en route to a 3-1 victory. With Østigård playing on the left side of the centre-back pairing, the home side came within seconds of recording a clean sheet. However, Cyprus scored with the final kick of the match, counter-attacking from a Norway corner kick.
Soaked
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia played the full 90 minutes in Georgia’s Euro Group A qualification match against Scotland. Heavy rain left created dreadful playing conditions, with the pitch soaked with water. The match was suspended for over an hour after Callum McGregor’s opener in the 6th minute.
Though the visitors played well, they conceded a second to Scotland shortly after the break. As usual, Kvaratskhelia was a difficult man to mark, leveraging his creativity to run at the Scottish defenders. Though he lined up on the left side of the front two, the Napoli winger was allowed the freedom to roam all over the park.
In the 90th minute, Georgia were awarded a free kick after Otar Kiteishvili was fouled in the middle of the park. Kvaratskhelia stood over the ball as if he would go direct for goal from 30 yards out. Instead, he chipped the ball into the area, looking to pick out the run of Zurab Davitashvili. Nothing came of the set piece, but a VAR review showed that former Bologna defender Aaron Hickey handled the ball in the area and Georgia were awarded a penalty kick. Kvaratskhelia took the penalty kick himself but, with the pitch still soaked, he blasted the ball over the bar.
Georgia coach Vili Sanioli commented on the playing conditions after the match.
“No one wanted to be in such a situation. Any decision would have some feedback, though we can’t figure out why the game started at all. In a few seconds it appeared that it was impossible to play football. The referee stopped the match after the goal and because of that he felt under pressure. Even before the goal, we agreed with the coach of the Scottish national team that it would be difficult to play on such a field.”
Polish Meltdown
Piotr Zielinski played the full 90 minutes in Poland’s Euro Group E qualification match against Moldova. Even after Robert Lewandowski and Arkadiuz Milik assisted each others’ goals in the opening 35 minutes, the visitors squandered a number of opportunities to extend their lead.
One of those chances came in the dying seconds of the first half, after Zielinski slipped the ball through to Lewandowski in the area. However, the normally-reliable Polish hitman pulled his shot wide of the far post.
The missed opportunities proved to be costly. Moldova scored three goals in the second half, completing what was arguably the greatest comeback in the history of Moldovan football. Bartosz Bereszyński entered the match in the 64th minute, when Poland still had a one-goal lead, but the Napoli full back was unable to stop the Moldova resurgence.
