Rafa Benitez's men were undone by two second half strikes from the hosts as their miserable start to the campaign continues
Napoli’s perfect start to their Europa League campaign came to an end on Thursday courtesy of a 2-0 defeat at Young Boys.
A closely contested game came to life early in the second half, when Guillaume Hoarau netted with a half volley.
Leonardo Bertone then made it 2-0 on the break
in stoppage time to give the hosts all three points, leapfrogging them
above the Partenopei at the top of Group I.
The first real opening came with a quarter of an hour on the clock, when Hoarau glanced a header narrowly wide of the post.
Jonathan de Guzman attempted to hit back for the
visitors moments later, but his effort from a tight angle was parried
by Yvon Mvogo.
The Young Boys keeper was a fairly busy man in
the first half and a superb dive to divert a Dries Mertens curler around
the post kept the scores level.
Hoarau’s aerial presence kept the Napoli defence
honest though, and the striker really should have done better when
presented with a free header at the far post, as he nodded straight at
Rafael.
But after a frustrating first half, Hoarau
wouldn’t have to wait long for his moment after the restart, slotting
home a neat half-volley with 52 minutes on the clock.
The expected response from Napoli wasn’t
forthcoming though, and Rafa Benitez was forced to make a change as
Marek Hamsik came on in place of the disappointing Michu.
However, the best the Slovakian could manage was
a half-hearted appeal for handball, as Young Boys proved themselves
adept at repelling what little the Serie A side could muster.
Substitute Jose Callejon saw a goal correctly disallowed, before Napoli were undone for the final time.
Their haste to find a leveler left all sorts of
space at the back, and Steffen exploited the gaps with a through pass to
Bertone, who beat Rafael with aplomb to clinch a famous win for the
Swiss side.
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