Tuesday's first leg of Napoli's Champions League last-16 match against Eintracht Frankfurt ended in a 2-0 victory for Napoli thanks to a second goal by Victor Osimhen.
The Nigerian forward responded to prolonged pressure from the visitors by opening the scoring in the 40th minute for his 10th goal in his past eight appearances in all competitions.
Osimhen narrowly missed the post, while Frankfurt captain Kevin Trapp saved teammate Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's penalty while he was subjected to thunderous boos from the home crowd.
Frankfurt pushed forward as the game became more chaotic, and the delighted supporters shouted louder after Kvaratskhelia missed his penalty.
Did you read this?
Hirving Lozano took advantage of the additional room by sprinting down the right flank and laying the ball off for Osimhen to finish easily at the back post. They pulled the same prank again a minute later, but this time the goal was disallowed for offside.
The second goal was scored by Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo in the 65th minute after Kvaratskhelia backheeled the ball into his path. He finished a fantastic team play with a sweeping, curled shot inside the far post. The Georgian had been brought in by André-Frank Zambo Anguissa using a weighted through ball.
Minutes earlier, Frankfurt's chances of making a comeback took a serious hit when star forward Randal Kolo Muani was dismissed for catching Anguissa with his open sole when both players were vying for the ball. Therefore, the French forward will miss the second leg in Naples.
"We tried everything," Frankfurt midfielder Mario Götze said. "The game flowed against us, also with the red card. It was a killer for us. We didn't do badly in the first few minutes. They played well in the end."
Frankfurt coach Oliver Glasner said his team wouldn't give up.
"In Naples, we won't hoist the white flag. In soccer, a lot is possible, according to Glasner. "Today hurts. We made a lot of errors. We must take note of that.
Despite his team's obvious domination, rival Luciano Spalletti cautioned against declaring the tie over. The host club only made five attempts compared to Napoli's 17.
We still have to play the game, according to Spalletti. "The biggest adversary is arrogance."
At the beginning of the game, Frankfurt fans set off a sizable pyrotechnic display behind one of the goals, partially in protest at the local authorities after they could not agree on a planned choreography owing to safety concerns.
Due to the potential for violence among some of the fans, there were numerous police officers present at and around the game. Authorities were readily expecting further unrest later Tuesday after making nine arrests the previous evening.
They were pushed inside the stadium to keep Napoli's supporters away from the home supporters. There was also a sizable buffer zone around their portion of the stadium to prevent any interaction between the rival groups.
Until Osimhen calmed the visitors' jitters, Napoli, which leads Serie A by 15 points, appeared unsettled early on with uncharacteristic errors.
