Trabzonspor have succumbed to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Napoli in this evening's Europa League round-of-32 first-leg clash at the Huseyin Avni Aker Stadium.
The visitors took only six minutes to surge into the lead as Henrique rose highest to head into the top corner of the net past Hakan Arikan.
Moments later, Kalidou Koulibaly could have put his side two up as he found himself with the ball at his feet just in front of goal, but the Trabzonspor goalkeeper was able to save.
In the 20th minute, however, the Partenopei succeeded in getting their second when Manolo Gabbiadini's cross into the box was bundled in from close range by Gonzalo Higuain.
Even before the clock ticked past the half-hour mark, Napoli were three goals to the good, Gabbiadini collecting Raul Albiol's through-ball before charging towards goal and slotting home.
Erkan Zengin had a tentative chance for the hosts early on in the second half, but this proved little more than an anomaly as Rafael Benitez's charges soon began pushing forward once again.
In the 84th minute, Napoli had a chance to extend their lead further from the spot when Fatih Atik brought down Mertens in the box, but the Belgian fired his penalty wide.
Nevertheless, Trabzonspor weren't able to shore up their defences enough to hold out for just a three-goal defeat.
Two minutes into stoppage time, Duvan Zapata burst into the box and side-footed the ball home to give Napoli a virtually insurmountable four-goal advantage going into the second leg.
Giuseppe Labellarte
