UCL - Napoli 1 - 1 Manchester City: Tops & Flops After The First Half
- Nima Tavallaey Roodsari
Here are the top and flops of the first half:
TOPS:
Lorenzo Insigne: The little magician from Naples has been everywhere in the first half, helping Ghoulam in defence as well as causing Manchester City all sorts if problems down their right flank. Brilliant in tight spaces.
Jorginho: Has directed the tempo of Napoli's midfield in a way that would have made Andrea Pirlo proud. Rarely misses a pass and is never caught out of position. Mr Ventura, if you cannot fit Jorginho into your system, there's something wrong with your system.
John Stones: Has been very good at the heart of Manchester City's defence, making last minute clearances and tackles on numerous occasions. His strength in the air is very useful in defence as well as when going forward hitting the crossbar with a great header.
FLOPS:
Kalidou Koulibaly: Napoli need their best central defender to give a world class performance to keep the attacking flair of Manchester City at bay. Has been anything but world class today missing simple passes, being caught out of position as well as not being as dominant in the air as can be expected.
Marek Hamsik: Completely anonymous in the first half. Struggles to find any space and when he does his passing lets him down. Napoli need their captain to give a captain's performance in order to win or get a draw.
Napoli's lack of depth: When your aim is to defeat Manchester City in the Champions League whilst also mounting a challenge to win the Serie A for the first time ina generation, your back-up full-back cannot be Christian Maggio. The veteran came on after Ghoulam was injured and it is no coincidence that Manchester City took control of the match after that when Hysaj was moved to the left to accomodate Maggio.