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Thursday 23 April 2015

Napoli 2-2 Wolfsburg (agg 6-3): Klose & Perisic restore some pride but Benitez's men advance

Napoli are through to the Europa League semi-finals after their 2-2 draw with Wolfsburg on Thursday earned a 6-3 aggregate win.

Having already won the competition with Valencia – in its previous guise as the Uefa Cup – and Chelsea in 2013, Rafa Benitez could match Giovanni Trapattoni's record of three tournament wins after his Napoli side cruised into the semi-finals thanks to goals from Jose Callejon and Dries Mertens.

Wolfsburg dominated the opening half and could have wiped out their three-goal deficit in the first half but Ivan Perisic and Nicklas Bendtner both failed to take their chances.

Napoli made them pay five minutes after the break as Callejon converted a Gonzalo Higuain pass - albeit with the aid of a deflection.

The hosts were a completely different side in the second half and Mertens extended their lead after 65 minutes with a cheeky flick after Mariano Andujar had blocked his original shot.

A stirring fightback from the Bundesliga outfit saw Timm Klose and Perisic score in quick succession, but it was not enough to stop Napoli extending their unbeaten home run in European matches to 12 games.

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