PSV defence cramped Cavani

5 October 2012 10:22

PSV attacker Dries Mertens said Napoli star Edinson Cavani underperformed in Eindhoven's 3-0 Europa League victory over the Italians.

The Uruguay international Cavani started the encounter from the bench, but replaced Omar El Kaddouri at half-time when Napoli were 2-0 behind.

Nevertheless, the 25-year-old was unable to turn things around as the visitors to Eindhoven were easily beaten, and the Belgian stressed that the forward was unable to trouble PSV's defence.

"Let's not make Cavani any bigger than he really is. We simply put in a strong performance in defence," Mertens told Goal.com.

"Everybody says that Napoli were very poor, but we should not forget that we put in a great performance. We dominated proceedings from the first until the final whistle.

"Napoli might have fielded some reserves, but the guys who did play are all good players, too."

Meanwhile, shot-stopper Boy Waterman was equally pleased with PSV's victory over Napoli at the Philips Stadium.

"You don't expect to have such a quiet night when you meet Napoli. We played a great game, though, and you can only be satisfied when you record a 3-0 victory."

PSV sit joint second in Group F of the Europa League with three points from two games.