Report: Napoli U19 2 - 3 Rangers U19

RANGERS U19s produced an impressive victory in the UEFA Youth League with a 3-2 win over Napoli at the Stadio Giuseppe Piccolo this afternoon.

The Light Blues raced out to a two-goal lead inside the opening 21 minutes in Naples through goals from Robbie Ure and Zak Lovelace, before they were pegged back in quick succession on the cusp of half-time.

However, the away side showed tremendous character to restore their advantage from the penalty spot shortly into the second period through the impressive Lovelace.

Rangers wasted no time in fashioning their first opportunity of the afternoon inside three minutes. Robbie Ure was sent through on goal by a clever lofted pass, with only a last-ditch intervention thwarting the forward as he shot towards goal.

Napoli responded with a dangerous moment of their own minutes later as Enrico Giannini crossed for Daniels Nosegbe-Susko to fire wide.

The Light Blues were forced into an early switch when Greig Allen was forced off injured and was replaced by Kelsey Ewen at the heart of the defence.

The substitute made a crucial block just minutes later as Antonio Pesce turned inside the penalty area and pulled the trigger following a cross from the left-hand side.

Rangers then took the lead in the 20th minute as Ure made no mistake inside the danger area. Only minutes later had Bailey Rice supplied the Gers forward for a goalbound header and the pair combined once again from the second phase of a corner, with Ure trapping the ball before firing a left-footed effort beyond the Napoli goalkeeper.

The second goal arrived for the Light Blues less than a minute later. Lovelace showed tremendous strength to shake off his marker on the left touchline before driving into the penalty area; dropping the shoulder, the 16-year-old created the space for a shot and he rifled his finish beyond the outstretched Claudio Turi to double his side’s advantage.

The Englishman was among the action in the 30th minute, creating danger with a driving run before firing a left-footed effort off target.

Francesco Giolelli glanced a header onto the crossbar to remind Rangers of Napoli’s threat with Jacob Pazikas looking in particularly strong form in the opening period.

However, Napoli reduced the arrears on the stroke of half time, with Alessandro Spavone scoring via a deflection from a rehearsed corner routine.

The home side then equalised deep into first half stoppage time after the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Spavone stepped up and stroked his spot-kick into the bottom corner.

James Graham replaced Paul Nsio at the interval as Rangers looked to restore their advantage early in the second half.

The Light Blues wasted precious little time in putting themselves ahead for the second time in the afternoon. Arron Lyall’s strike from distance was blocked by the arm of a Napoli defender and, after the referee pointed to the penalty spot, Lovelace made no mistake in dispatching his spot-kick under the Italian goalkeeper.

A lightning counter-attack from McCallum’s men almost engineered a fourth goal of the game. Lovelace supplied Ure in the penalty area after beating his marker, with the ball falling kindly to Graham whose effort deflected into the side netting.

Lovelace was once again the architect minutes later, floating a gorgeous pass into the onrushing Graham. The winger was able to lob the goalkeeper but a backtracking Napoli defender cleared the ball to safety before it reached the goal line.

Pazikas was called into action from Lorenzo Russo down the opposite end after neat interplay from the hosts down the right.

Ure controlled a lovely pass and looked to lob Turi in the Napoli goal in the 69th minute, but the ball did not dip in time to trouble the opposition’s goal.

The Gers forward had another effort blocked 15 minutes from time before clipping the ball back into the penalty area where Napoli eventually cleared the danger.

Napoli had a sighting of goal with 12 minutes to play, with Pazikas making a huge diving stop to deny Leonardo Rossi from close range.

Ure almost grabbed his second goal of the afternoon as the Gers sprung forward on the counter-attack late in the game, firing into the side netting from a tight angle after rounding the goalkeeper.

Four minutes of additional time was announced as Napoli tried to exert pressure, but the Light Blues stood tall to seal a hard-earned three points.

Next up for McCallum’s side in their final UEFA Youth League group stage match is the visit of Ajax to Glasgow next week.

NAPOLI U19s: Turi, Barba, Giannini, Boni, Nosegbe-Susko, D’Avino (Lettera, 76), Russo (Gningue, 71), Giolelli (Acampa, 76), Pesce, Spavone (Iaccarino, 63), De Pasquale (Rossi, 63).

Subs not used: Pellino, Pontillo.

RANGERS U19s: Pazikas, Harkness, Allen (Ewen, 12), MacKinnon, Fraser, Strachan, Rice (Ciubotaru, 84), Nsio (Graham, 45), Lyall, Ure, Lovelace (Webster, 83).

Subs not used: Kane, Pasnik, Young.

REFEREE: Jasmin Sabotic


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