Napoli’s unbeaten start to the season ended on Tuesday day and Victor Osimhen fired blanks as they lost 2-0 to Liverpool.
Late goals from Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez saw the Reds take all three points.
But the Italians still finished top dogs in Champions League Group A.
With a lack of jeopardy on the game neither team really moved out of second gear as the chances of Liverpool overturning a four-goal swing to top the group never threatened to materialise.
However, two Liverpool goals did come late on when Salah prodded home from close range after Nunez’s header had been clawed off the line by goalkeeper Alex Meret before Nunez grabbed himself a goal, awarded by VAR, after tapping home from Virgil van Dijk’s initial header which was saved.
Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, believes his side reacted well after their defeat to Leeds.
He said: “I would have enjoyed the game even without the goals but they are important stuff. We showed a really good reaction. Being compact makes all the difference. All of a sudden we have the challenges in the right spaces and we are difficult to play against.
“If you have seen what Napoli can do it was a really good game for us. I saw a lot of courage and bravery. Two set-pieces got us the points and to take 15 (points) in this group is absolutely insane.”
It wasn’t one of Klopp’s epic European nights under the Anfield lights but it was a landmark one as he became the fourth Liverpool manager to reach 400 games in charge of the club, after Tom Watson, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley.
Napoli are top of the table in Serie A and had won 13 consecutive matches in all competitions before this Anfield trip.
