Feyenoord suffered their second defeat in the Champions League group stages with Napoli seeing off the Rotterdammers 3-1 in Naples.

Already without Eric Botteghin, Feyenoord suffered another defensive casualty during the warm up with Jan-Arie van der Heijden suffering an injury, meaning Renato Tapia partnered Jerry St Juste in the centre of defence. An injury to Michiel Kramer, saw Jean-Paul Boetius start up front with Jens Toornstra on the wing.

Feyenoord were hoping for a strong start defensively, but in the seventh minute, Lorenzo Insigne capitalised on some hesitancy in the Rotterdammers midfield before firing a low strike past Brad Jones to put Napoli ahead.

The Italians dominated the rest of the first half but failed to add to the scoreline, while at the other end, Feyenoord could only muster a weak Steven Berghuis shot which didn’t trouble Pepe Reina.

Four minutes into the second half, Napoli doubled their lead through ex-PSV star Dries Mertens who latched onto a horrible Kevin Diks backpass before slotting the ball past Jones.

Napoli pushed for a third but in the 67th minute Feyenoord were handed a lifeline after Steven Berghuis was brought down in the box. However, Reina saved Jens Toornstra’s spot kick. A minute later, Napoli went down the other end and added a third through Jose Callejon.

There was some positives for Feyenoord before the end with Sven van Beek making his comeback from a year-and-a-half out injured and in stoppage time Sofyan Amrabat pulled a goal back. Their first in the Champions League since 2002.

However, a second defeat for Feyenoord keeps them bottom of the group and they must now look to get the better of Shakhtar Donetsk in their double header if they are to remain in Europe past the winter.




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