Villarreal 3-1 Napoli: result and report

Report

Villarreal came from behind to beat Napoli 3-1, but the scoreline makes the gap look wider than it was. Napoli created the better chances and still lost, because they could not finish enough of them.

Napoli started well and went ahead after eight minutes through Amir Rrahmani. The lead did not last. Georges Mikautadze equalised in the 23rd minute, and three minutes later Santiago Mouriño put Villarreal in front from Gerard Moreno's pass.

That one-goal lead held for an hour, so Napoli stayed in the game until late. Tani Oluwaseyi finally settled it on 86 minutes, with Ayoze Pérez providing the assist.

Napoli: the better chances, the wrong result

The underlying numbers favour Napoli. They finished with 2.18 xG to Villarreal's 1.13, even though Villarreal had more shots, 10 to seven. Napoli also had three big chances to Villarreal's two, missed two of them and hit the woodwork twice.

So Villarreal did not win this by creating more. They won it because they took their chances while Napoli did not. Napoli also had 58 dangerous attacks to Villarreal's 33, and more of the sustained attacking pressure came from them.

Rrahmani was rated the best player on the pitch despite finishing on the losing side. That rating says something about how Napoli played.

Villarreal: sharper where it mattered

This was not a smash-and-grab, though. Villarreal had more shots on target, four to three, and more key passes, 13 to nine. Possession was close to even. They were a real threat when they did get forward.

The difference was the quality of finishing at both ends. Villarreal turned modest chance quality into three goals, while Napoli turned the better openings into one.