Scott McTominay's great Napoli headers in vain as absence of Man Utd men bites with Champions League thrashing

Napoli were thrashed 6-2 by PSV on a dramatic evening at Philips Stadion, putting a dent in the Serie A title holders’ aspirations of progressing to the knock-out stages.

Antonio Conte’s men sit 22nd in the Champions League standings, having now lost to PSV and Manchester City, with a win over Sporting CP sandwiched in between those two defeats.

Napoli have now lost three of their past five matches in all competitions, this latest heavy reversal coming on the back of going down 1-0 to Torino on league duty at the weekend.

McTominay missed that match in Turin due to a cut sustained in training, but he was fit enough to return to the starting XI for the trip to Eindhoven and took his place alongside fellow Scotland internationalist Billy Gilmour, who was picked from the beginning for the third successive match.

And Napoli got off to the perfect start in the Netherlands on 31 minutes when Leonardo Spinazzola whipped in a devilish cross and McTominay rose to power a header into the top corner past PSV keeper Matej Kovar.

However, the hosts responded emphatically. Napoli defender Alessandro Buongiorno headed into his own net four minutes later and then Ismael Saibari put PSV in front on 38 minutes.

Napoli fall apart in second half

Napoli tried to respond after the break, but PSV forward Dennis Man put clear daylight between the two teams on 54 minutes and then the visitors had striker Lorenzo Lucca sent off on 76 minutes.

Man netted once more on 80 minutes but the scoring was not done there. McTominay netted with a header once more after a David Neres corner on 86 minutes but Ricardo Pepi and then Couhaib Driouch scored to inflict a crushing defeat on Napoli.

The Italian side continue to miss their in-form striker Rasmus Hojlund, who has been in prolific form since coming in on loan from Manchester United. The Dane missed the Torino defeat due to a thigh issue and was not present in Eindhoven. Conte will hope to have him available for Sunday’s key Serie A clash at home to Internazionale, especially after Lucca let him down on the continent.

Napoli also remain without another former Manchester United striker in Romelu Lukaku, who has not featured this campaign after tearing his thigh in pre-season.

Earlier on in the night, Kairat Almaty - conquerors of Celtic in the Champions League play-off - picked up their first points of the competition after a goalless draw with Pafos at the Central Stadium.

Pafos played the 86 minutes with ten men after defender Joao Correia was sent off, but the Cypriots held firm to ensure a share of the spoils.