Victor Osimhen scored a brace for Napoli as they defeated Hellas Verona 2-1 on Sunday in the Serie A.
The 21-year-old had not scored for the Partenopei in a while but his teammates did well to make use of his abilities and we're well rewarded as he put two past the Verona goalkeeper and keep up their Serie A title charge.
Napoli’s title hopes suffered a major hit last week when they lost by a lone goal to AC Milan, dropping them from first to third place on the Serie A table. Osimhen's goals have brought them back on track, as they are only three points away from top spot.
A 14th-minute powerful header and a 71st-minute finish from the striker who troubled the Verona defence for most of the game helped the Partenopei to a 2-1 victory, taking his goal tally to eight in the Serie A and 12 in the season across all competitions from 24 games played.
Osimhen continues to prove importance
Osimhen's eight goals place him at the top of the club's list, proving how important he is to their hopes of a Scudetto this season.
Nigerian fans will be especially grateful that he finished the game whole, after an injury scare in the 55th minute.
Osimhen went into a challenge with Koray Gunter of Verona and came off worse for it, clutching his shoulder for quite a few minutes while receiving medical attention.
Teammate praises Nigerian's importance at club
Elsewhere, Abdülkadir Ömür of Trabzonspor in the Turkish Super Lig has praised the impact of Anthony Nwakaeme at the club.
Nwakaeme delivered another man-of-the-match performance for the Black Sea Storm’s 4-2 triumph over Goztepe on Saturday, where he scored and assisted another in a comeback win.
Nwakaeme now has 21 goal contributions (11 goals, 10 assists) in only 23 league appearances for the league leaders.
Ömür, who netted two of the four goals to help Trabzonspor extend their lead at the top of the Super Log table, praised the Nigerian for his great impact since joining the club.
“Nwakaeme is very important to us, a name we cannot describe,” Ömür said.
“He makes me laugh so much. He calls me Messi; I call him big brother. I hope we can lift this trophy together. We have a dream. We want to win all of our remaining matches. We want to be the earliest champion in history.
“There were some events at the beginning of the season, but Nwakaeme did not spare me his support
“We’ve been together for about four years. He is one of the oldest on the team. A very different character for us. He never ceases to support young players.
“He also takes responsibility in our difficult moments on the field. I am sure we will lift this trophy together and become the earliest champions in history.”
Four more wins in their remaining nine games will see Nwakaeme and Trabzonspor bag the Turkish crown for the first time in four decades.
This article was most recently revised and updated 1 year ago
