Højlund Brace Fires Napoli to 2–1 Victory over Sporting in UCL
Napoli secured their first win of the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League campaign with a dramatic 2–1 victory over Sporting CP thanks to a brace from Rasmus Højlund.
The Serie A side controlled much of the early play, though clear chances were scarce despite slick linking between Leonardo Spinazzola and Matteo Politano.
Breakthrough came nine minutes before half-time, when Kevin De Bruyne threaded a pass through to Højlund, who calmly finished from the edge of the box to open the scoring.
Napoli nearly doubled the lead before the break, only for Politano’s effort to be denied by Sporting keeper Rui Silva.
However, Sporting responded after the interval. Following a foul by Politano on Maximiliano Araujo inside the area, Luis Suárez converted the resulting penalty, sending Vanja Milinković-Savić the wrong way to level the score.
Napoli would reclaim the lead later in the game. Once again, De Bruyne was involved, his header found Højlund, who met it with a powerful header to secure the winner and all three points.
Though Napoli were outscored in expected goals (xG), Sporting generated 1.29 compared to Napoli’s 0.80, it was Højlund’s clinical finishing that made the difference.
The result also added to Højlund’s growing reputation in Europe. He now has three doubles in just eight Champions League appearances, a joint record, despite his youth and relative inexperience at this level.
Notably, this match marked just the second time a Napoli player has provided two assists in the same Champions League fixture, the first being Edinson Cavani setting up Ezequiel Lavezzi against Chelsea in February 2012.