Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk hold a slight advantage at the halfway stage of their Europa League semi-final with Napoli, having recorded a 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Stadio San Paolo this evening.
The hosts were frustrated by the visitors in the first half but finally made the breakthrough five minutes after the restart when David Lopez nodded home his first goal for the club.
They couldn't add to that lead, however, and Dnipro clinched a crucial away goal 10 minutes from time when Yevhen Seleznyov tapped home with his first touch.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at whether a draw was the right result on the night.
Match statistics
NAPOLI
Shots: 20
On target: 7
Possession: 70%
Corners: 14
Fouls: 15
DNIPRO
Shots: 5
On target: 2
Possession: 30%
Corners: 1
Fouls: 15
Was the result fair?
The statistics above tell you all you need to know about this match. Quite how Napoli didn't come away with the victory is a mystery. The hosts dominated possession and had a glut of chances in the second half especially, but they simply couldn't put the game beyond their visitors. The match, and indeed the tie, should have been dead and buried before Seleznyov's equaliser, with Gonzalo Higuain alone being denied from magnificent positions on at least four occasions.
Credit must go to Dnipro for the way they defended in the first half and, on paper, it may look like a perfect away performance. They withstood heavy pressure for the vast majority of the game before nicking a goal with their first chance of the match 10 minutes from time. That was their gameplan and ultimately it worked, but they will know that they rode their luck on more than one occasion tonight. Napoli could have had five or six to their name here, but instead Dnipro pulled off a smash-and-grab result courtesy of a goal that should have been ruled out for offside.
The second half really was one-way traffic until the equalising goal, after which Napoli never regained the ebb and flow that had been causing Dnipro so many problems. The expected pressure never arrived in the final 10 minutes, with Rafael Benitez perhaps wary of conceding a second away goal. This tie is by no means over, but Dnipro will be delighted going into next week's second leg. Instead of being out of the contest, they now find themselves in the driving seat.
Napoli's performance
Many people had Napoli as the favourites for the tournament going into this match following their performance against Wolfsburg in the last round, and they should have won this first leg even more comfortably than their quarter-final triumph. Benitez's side began the match quickly and the opening 25 minutes or so were really encouraging, with Lorenzo Insigne clipping the post and Marek Hamsik and Higuain both threatening, but they soon found themselves stifled by Dnipro.
The hosts lacked pace and ingenuity in the final 20 minutes of the first half as the visitors comfortably dealt with everything. That changed after the break, however, with Lopez's goal seriously unsettling the opposition. Suddenly, Napoli looked capable of playing through them at will, with Hamsik and Higuain in particular linking up well. The latter found himself in a duel with Dnipro keeper Denis Boyko, and the Argentine striker lost it. He missed at least four really good chances to put the tie beyond doubt.
Even so, it was all Napoli in the second half, and a second goal for the hosts seemed a matter of when, rather than if. Dnipro had not posed an attacking threat all game, but suddenly popped up with the equaliser very much against the run of play, with the scorer tucking the ball away from an offside position to add insult to injury. Napoli can justifiably feel hard done by having put in an electrifying second-half display, but their profligacy ultimately cost them. They will now need another impressive away performance in Europe to reach the final.
Dnipro's performance
Everything pointed to Dnipro looking to soak up the pressure tonight, and sure enough that was the case. The visitors have a fine clean sheet record in recent weeks and, after the first half, it was hard to see that changing. Napoli did get in behind them once or twice early on, but Dnipro soon tightened things up at the back and defended very well in the final 20 minutes of the opening period. It wasn't particularly exciting for the neutral, but they were doing exactly what they needed to do.
The goal changed all of that, however. Dnipro's defence had looked almost impenetrable before the break, but they were all at sea for much of the second half. Higuain tore them apart with his movement, and they have a string of big saves from Boyko to thank for keeping them in the tie during that period. The visitors were a lot more open than in the first half, but that is not to say that they offered more going forward themselves.
Their attacking threat throughout was minimal, with Seleznyov's goal their only decent opening of the entire match, and even that came from an offside position. Myron Markevych may have played to soak up the pressure and perhaps nick a goal, but even he will be wondering just how his side escaped from this one-sided encounter with such a good result. The onus is now on Napoli to attack in the second leg, with a goalless draw back in Dnipropetrovsk suiting the Ukrainians just fine.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Denis Boyko: Throughout the second half it was clear that either Higuain or Boyko was going to be important in the result. The Napoli man would have won this award had he finished one of his chances, but he was repeatedly denied by Boyko. The Ukrainian keeper wasn't entirely convincing throughout, but those second-half saves kept his side in the tie. They will have him to thank if they progress to the final.
Biggest gaffe
We've picked on Higuain enough already, so instead the gaffe of the game goes to the linesman, who failed to spot that Seleznyov was a yard offside when he tucked the ball home at the back post. There were actually two Dnipro players offside when the ball came in, so it was not the most difficult decision to make, and it could prove to be a pivotal one in the tie.
Referee performance
The officials will be remembered for that mistaken offside call, but referee Svein Oddvar Moen had a solid game on the whole. It was quite a scrappy affair at times, with plenty of play-acting, but Moen kept a lid on it.
What next?
Napoli: Napoli face already-relegated Parma on Sunday before the second leg in Ukraine next Thursday.
Dnipro: Dnipro, meanwhile, take on Zorya at home on Sunday.
Barney Corkhill
