Napoli 2 - 3 Sporting Lisbon

This was a game that started off slowly but exploded into life later on. The first period ended in stalemate with no incidents of note.

Sporting took the lead in the second period when Alberto played a neat one-two with Pedro and then scored with a shot that bounced off Bertie. But Napoli leveled things up with a 'Nikos special' - a high curving free kick over a helpless Ryan. Santiago meanwhile was making dangerous runs down both wings and forcing Napoli into last ditch saves and tackles, notably from Trym. A Santi throw-in then found Alberto's head but the shot came back off the bar. 

Santiago now took centre stage. First his throw-in caught Trym by surprise and the ball ended up in the net. Then his next raid produced another goal, his shot ricocheting off Pedro and into the path of Giulio who was on hand to bury the rebound. Sporting led 3-1 going into period 3, though it could have been 4-1 had Victor not blocked another Santiago attempt.

Now Santiago went into goal and made a great save from a Pedro shot. Hope sparked briefly for Napoli when Davide was penalised for a handball but Santi made a great save from Nikos's penalty. But Napoli did get back to 3-2 soon after. Pedro's shot was saved by Santi but Ben followed up and scored. Not much time left now and both sides continued to attack. Trym saved from Kevin; a fierce shot from Pedro struck the bar, a Marco shot went wide and another penalty claim from Pedro was dismissed.

All in all, an entertaining game and a fair result.

BEST PLAYER POINTS

Santiago 6, Nikos 5, Pedro 4, Alberto 3, Marco 3, Kevin 2,  Trym 2, Ben 2, Giulio 1