When Napoli went down a goal to Dynamo Kiev in their first Champions League group stage match, many wondered how Napoli would respond. Wonder no more, because just minutes later Faouzi Ghoulam served up a gorgeous cross that Arkadiusz Milik converted with ease to level the score at 1-1, and right before halftime he scored again to give Napoli a much-needed lead.
Milik! #Napoli equalize. 1-1 pic.twitter.com/YPO18BHfCO
— Stereo Serie A Radio (@StereoSerieA) September 13, 2016
It was Napoli’s first truly quality scoring chance of the game, and they made sure not to waste it. While the finish from Arek Milik isn’t the prettiest in the world, he got enough on it off a difficult header over two defenders to knuckle it past Oleksandr Shovkovskiy in goal. It continues a trend for Milik: right place, right time, and putting in the effort to get the right result. More, please.
The real story, though is that cross from Ghoulam. And oh lord what a cross. Beautifully weighted to drop to a spot that Milik was the most likely man to get to it, it was the perfect cross for the situation. Despite his obvious qualities with crossing the ball at Saint Etienne and in his first half-season at Napoli, Ghoulam has struggled serving the ball up over the last two seasons, so seeing him return to form in that area in the early going of this campaign has been wonderful to see.
Of course, Milik wasn’t done there.
Milik again! #Napoli lead 2-1 at halftime. #UCL pic.twitter.com/a6wzmJPexl
— Stereo Serie A Radio (@StereoSerieA) September 13, 2016
Once more, not pretty, but so effective. A lot of strikers would have waited the extra second to let the ball get to their feed, but Milik saw a chance to cause danger before any defender could recover to face it. His tapped header was perfectly placed to make sure no one could get to it, and Napoli got a huge kick of momentum right at the end of the first half.
More goals, Napoli. Please.