Napoli beat Chelsea 3-1 at home

 　　ROME, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Napoli proved unstoppable at home in the Champions League when they beat Chelsea 3-1 at home in the first leg of the final 16 tie on Tuesday.

　　Chelsea took the lead in the 27th minute through Juan Mata, and then Napoli responded with three goals including a brace¹ from Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani's goal.

　　Napoli head coach Walter Mazzarri, who was suspended for two games, watched the match in the hotel, but rushed to the stadium to celebrate with his squad².

　　"I liked the team in every respect. We only suffered for 10 minutes after that blasted goal," he said. "We had played well up until then and went close twice, but this team really amazed me. We created so many chances and it's a shame Christian³ Maggio's opportunity didn't get a fourth."

　　"Maggio's chance does leave a few regrets, as it would've made us more relaxed for the second leg. It's going to be tough and we know they have champions who can score two goals at home," he added.

　　Mazzarri's Chelsea counterpart Andre Villas-Boas was frustrated⁴ at Chelsea's defensive⁵, and insisted they can "turn this tie around" in the second leg.

　　"After we went 1-0 up we missed opportunities, then should've done better defending. Mistakes against Napoli, whose attack is their strength, mean you can get punished," he said.

　　"A 3-1 is more difficult to recover, not impossible, of course, because of the amount of chances that we get and the environment we must create to turn this tie around and go through. The first 90 minutes have passed, but we have another 90 minutes to turn the tie around," he said.

　　Chelsea - who had started the match with Ashley Cole, Michael Essien, Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres on the bench - had looked shaky in defence in the early stages of the match, but they took the lead in the 27th minute through Juan Mata.

　　The lead did not last long, Lavezzi curled the ball past Petr Cech for an equalizer 11 minutes later, and Edinson Cavani put the hosts in front when he used his shoulder to divert home in first-half injury time.

　　Chelsea looked dangerous in the second half and had numerous opportunities to get back on level terms, but a glaring error from David Luiz allowed Lavezzi to make it 3-1 in the 65th minute.?

1 brace   

n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备

参考例句：

• My daughter has to wear a brace on her teeth. 我的女儿得戴牙套以矫正牙齿。
• You had better brace yourself for some bad news. 有些坏消息,你最好做好准备。

2 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。