March 13, (THEWILL) –Â Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen scored both goals in Napoli’s 2-1 victory over Hellas Verona on Sunday, keeping his team in second place behind Serie A leaders AC Milan.
The Super Eagles’ forward scored a goal in both halves to assure Luciano Spalletti’s squad will finish the weekend three points behind Milan, with Inter five points behind in third ahead of their trip to Torino on Sunday night.
On a busy day in which he also forgot his protective face mask before coming out for the second half, he gave the away side a merited 14th-minute lead by smashing home a beautiful header from Matteo Politano’s cross.
When the 23-year-old suffered a left shoulder injury after colliding with Koray Gunter, it appeared that Napoli would be without Osimhen for the better part of a half-hour. And, fears of his injury woes of the past were once again flashing.
While Spalletti was deciding what to do with goalkeeper David Ospina, who had Federico Ceccherini land on his hand during a goalmouth scramble and looked in significant discomfort, Osimhen was on the floor for two minutes and then treated pitchside.
Spalletti was already missing Alex Meret due to a fractured vertebra, and had only young goalkeepers Davide Marfella and Hubert Idasiak on the bench, neither of whom had ever played in Serie A.
However, both teams continued to play, and in the 71st minute, Osimhen cast all fears aside as he increased Napoli’s lead, meeting Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s low pull back with a superb first-time finish that left Lorenzo Montipo with no chance.
The game appeared to be over, but there was still time for drama, as Marco Faraoni headed the hosts back into the game six minutes later after a lovely play and a precise Adrien Tameze cross.
However, just as Igor Tudor’s squad was pushing for a point, Ceccherini was sent out for a second bookable offence, allowing Napoli to finish the game with maximum points in the bag.
Verona were enraged with Ceccherini’s dismissal, and captain Faraoni was also issued a red card after the final whistle, for vehement protests directed at referee Daniele Doveri.
Napoli will hope to keep up the pressure when they welcome Udinese to the Diego Armando Maradona stadium in Naples, while Verona will be without Ceccherini when they travel to Empoli for their next tie.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
