sparkling napoli finishes flatten midtjylland published: thursday 22 october 2015, 22.58cet midtjylland 1-4 napoli josé callejón and manolo gabbiadini vied for goal of the night as the stylish partenopei made it three victories from three in group d.
josé callejón clips delicious opener over mikkel andersen manolo gabbiadini then strikes twice, his second a beauty martin pušic reduces arrears just before half-time gonzalo higuaín's late goal takes napoli's group d tally to 11 the teams meet again at the stadio san paolo on 5 november
napoli moved above midtjylland at the top of uefa europa league group d, the danish champions flattened by three first-half goals.
like their guests, midtjylland had won their first two games but their positive start was soon forgotten in denmark as josé callejón scored an early contender for goal of the group stage, allowing kalidou koulibaly's long delivery to drop over his shoulder before flicking the ball over the oncoming mikkel andersen.
napoli's second was not quite so stylish, manolo gabbiadini stabbing the ball in from allan's pass, but the 23-year-old raised the ante again with his second, controlling with a single touch then caressing the ball into the top corner from the edge of the box.
there was some consolation for midtjylland before the break as martin pušic redirected daniel royer's shot into the net, but napoli remained beguilingly brilliant when the mood took them. callejón dropped an effort onto the top of the bar in the last seconds before the interval and lashed another centimetres wide ten minutes into the second period.
focus wavered thereafter, and napoli were fortunate that royer's strike found koulibaly guarding the post – the no77 thwarted in the 77th minute. however, there was a sting in their tail, substitute gonzalo higuaín drilling in a low shot at the death, 11 goals in three matches a fair measure of napoli's class.
