Leicester City 2-2 Napoli
Rangers 0-2 Lyon
VICTOR OSIMHEN DENIED Leicester the perfect start in the Europa League as Napoli hit back from 2-0 down to snatch a point.
The striker struck twice in the second half as the visitors deservedly grabbed a 2-2 draw in Group C at the King Power Stadium.
Ayoze Perez’s first goal since March and Harvey Barnes’ second-half goal gave the Foxes a commanding lead.
But Osimhen grabbed a classy lifeline for the visitors and then headed in a late leveller, with Leicester’s frustrations compounded when Wilfred Ndidi was sent off in injury time.
Police and stewards had to control a disturbance between the home and travelling fans at full time with missiles thrown between supporters.
Napoli goalkeeper David Ospina could not thwart the Foxes for long and they grabbed the opener after just nine minutes.
It owed much to Barnes’ direct running when the winger collected the ball on the left from Ryan Bertrand’s clearance.
He burst forward, swapped passes with Patson Daka and delivered a deep cross for Perez to volley in at the far post.
Napoli, who had won all three Serie A games this season, slowly took control but wasted the opportunities that came their way.
The Foxes thought they had doubled their lead after 59 minutes. Tielemans was involved, poking the ball through to Daka for the striker to drill in, only to be denied his first Leicester goal by a marginal VAR offside call.
Five minutes later, though, the Foxes did find their second goal. Iheanacho won the ball in midfield and his perfect pass found Barnes on the left for the winger to tease Malcuit and drill into the corner.
Napoli had paid the price for their profligacy but they pulled a goal back in style with 21 minutes left. A slick move on the edge of the box involving Insigne, Elif Elmas and Fabian Ruiz ended with Osimhen holding off Jannik Vestergaard and lifting the ball over Schmeichel from six yards.
Unsurprisingly, Napoli pressed for the leveller and Schmeichel turned Elmas’ shot away but the Foxes could not hang on. Osimhen had been a constant threat and he netted again with three minutes left to level, heading in Matteo Politano’s cross from eight yards.
Ndidi was then dismissed in stoppage time for collecting a second yellow card after he pulled back Adam Ounas.
Meanwhile at Ibrox, Steven Gerrard’s 50th European tie as Rangers boss ended in a 2-0 Europa League defeat by Lyon.
Cameroon international Karl Toko Ekambi fired in a terrific opener for the French side after 22 minutes of the Group A opener,
The Scottish champions had come close on a few occasions in the first half but in the 55th minute Gers skipper James Tavernier put through his own goal trying to stop a close-range shot from Islam Slimani and, despite a huge effort from the home side, it was too big a lead to claw back.
Gerrard, who had suffered only eight defeats in Europe previously with Rangers, had warned of Lyon’s quality before the game, describing them as arguably the best side he had encountered in his tenure as Gers boss, and in the final analysis the visitors had just that bit too much on the night.
Bernard Jackman, Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey discuss Ireland’s World Cup qualification campaign, the dressing-room debacle which overshadowed the interpros, and where Irish women’s rugby goes from here.
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
