Napoli made an ideal start to their adventure in the UEFA Champions League by defeating the defending champions Liverpool with unanswered two goals in the first round of the group stage.
Mertens converted from a penalty spot after he stepped up and scored into the bottom right-hand corner, despite Adrian getting a hand to the ball, giving his side the lead after 82 minutes.
Fernando Llorente doubled Napoli's lead when he scored his first goal for Napoli on only his second appearance as he fired a left-foot shot from the center of the box in the injury time
The defending champions started the game so fiercely as early as after only three minutes when the iconic Egyptian star Mohamed Salah unleashed a left-foot shot from a difficult angle, which was blocked by Napoli's defenders.
Four minutes later, Liverpool's goalkeeper Adrian was brought into action as he excellent save denied Fabián Ruiz's right-foot shot.
Napoli's keeper Alex Meret was pressed into action for the first time as he kept away Sadio Mane shot from a tight angle in the 21st minute.
Two minutes later, the Egyptian international drove into Napoli penalty area, but his left-foot shot from the left side was blocked.
Adrian was brought into action for the second time by a brilliant save when he got across with a flying right hand to tip over a Mertens' volley from close range in the 49th minute.
[gallery size="large" columns="1" ids="79178,79177,79176,79175,79174,79173,79180,79181"]
Follow the latest news on Google News
