Real Madrid beat Napoli 4-2 at home in the UEFA Europa League Group C top-of-the-table match in the early hours of Thursday morning (30th) to lock up first place in the round of 16. Two Argentinean players scored in the match, including 19-year-old starlet Nicolás Pérez, who scored his first goal for Real Madrid and unexpectedly became the hero of the win.
The pace of the game was fast and furious, with Napoli taking the lead in the 9th minute with a goal from Giovanni Szemoni. Real Madrid quickly took the lead with a goal from Lodi Gossi and Zudibininham, and then 2 minutes after the change of sides Napoli made it 2-2 with a goal from Sambor Gossi. When the two teams were at a standstill, the 19 year old Nichols gave a solo performance in the 84th minute, making a deft turn and then cutting a swathe of grass from just outside the penalty box, and then sealing a 4-2 win in stoppage time with a goal from Zusano. Real Madrid sealed a 4-2 win in stoppage time with a goal from Zusano.
Nicolás is a product of Real Madrid's youth training program, and his father, Paulo Luberos, is a former Argentinean international who was teammates with Szemonyi (Giovanni Szemonyi's father) in the World Cup 98. This goal is the first for Nicolás since he was promoted to the first team, and it also makes him, at 19 years old on the 82nd day of the age of 19, the second youngest Argentinean player to score a goal in the UEFA Europa League after Mez.
