Napoli oust Leicester City from Europa League: Records broken
Premier League side Leicester City were beaten 3-2 by Napoli on matchday six of the UEFA Europa League 2021-22 season. With this defeat, Leicester are now knocked out from the competition. They have dropped into the Europa Conference League. Napoli finished second and will be involved in the play-offs. Meanwhile, Group C toppers Spartak Moscow have qualified for the round of 16.
Why does it matter?
Leicester haven't quite got going this season and Brendan Rodgers will be gutted as his team led the group prior to the match. Dropping into the Conference League is not something Leicester would have liked but given their season, they should take that and vie for a trophy. They haven't kept a clean sheet in 16 games across competitions and tonight they conceded thrice.
How did the match pan out?
Napoli scored an early goal after Youri Tielemans gave the ball away only for Adam Ounas to find the corner of the net. Elif Elmas netted the second in the 24th minute. The Foxes rallied back in quick succession, scoring twice. Jonny Evans and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall were the scorers. In the second half, Elmas went on to score the winning goal.
Rare European goal for Evans; unwanted stat for Leicester
As per Opta, Evans has scored his first goal in major European competition since netting for Manchester United against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2013-14 Champions League group stage. Leicester, who have conceded in 16 consecutive matches in all competitions, scripted their longest run without a clean sheet since a run of 17 between November 2005 - January 2006.
Elmas shines for Napoli
No Napoli player has scored more goals in the Europa League this season than Eljif Elmas (4). Elmas now has five goals this season. In total, he has scored nine for Napoli in 102 appearances.
