Liverpool 2-0 Napoli as Serie A leaders take first loss of season

Napoli's Kim Min-jae, right, vies for the ball with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah during a UEFA Champions League Group A match at Anfield in Liverpool, England on Tuesday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Napoli’s 13-game winning streak ended Tuesday as the Italian side took their very first loss of the season across all competitions, dropping a UEFA Champions League game to Liverpool but still finishing at the top of Group A.

Late goals from Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez gave Liverpool the 2-0 win over Napoli at Anfield in Liverpool, England, after an early Napoli effort was ruled an ear and a shoulder offside.

With both teams already guaranteed a spot in the knockout stage at the Champions League, Tuesday’s game was purely for bragging rights. Liverpool get the honor of handing the Partenopei their first defeat since April, although Napoli still top the group with a huge plus 14 goal difference.

While Luciano Spalletti’s team looked largely unfazed by the loss, with the manager himself suggesting that the players sat back once they knew Liverpool couldn’t score the five goals needed to match them on goal difference.

The Liverpool players, meanwhile, seemed very aware that finding a way past Napoli this season was a special result.

“To win against one of the best teams in the world is the best feeling,” Salah told BT Sport.

“I think it’s important that we won today. We played a good game, we were quicker on the ball and recovered the ball quick too. We aren’t doing great in the league, but this will push us and then hopefully we can win more.”

Napoli entered Tuesday’s game in the midst of an incredible run that the loss does little to tarnish. In the Champions League, the Partenopei won every other game by some margin, beating Ajax 6-1 and 4-2, Rangers 3-0 and 3-0 and Liverpool 4-1 in the first leg.

In the league Napoli have been just as potent, leading Serie A by a clear five points with 10 wins and two draws so far this season. The Naples club has scored 30 goals and conceded just nine.

For Korean midfielder Kim Min-jae it’s difficult to imagine a better start to his European football career, starting in all-but-one of Napoli’s games so far this season.
Kim joined Napoli in July from Turkish club Fenerbahce after one year playing in the Super Lig. According to reports, Kim is under contract with Napoli until 2025, with the club retaining the option to extend the deal for two more years.

Kim has been racking up the personal accolades, appearing on FourFourTwo’s list of the top 10 defenders in the world last week and winning Player of the Month honors in September.

Napoli have three games left before the 2022 Qatar World Cup, where Kim is expected to lead Korea’s defense, facing Atalanta on Saturday, Empoli on Nov. 8 and Udinese on Nov. 12.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]