Nigeria and Napoli striker Victor Osimhen is back to his best following his Champions League goal against Barcelona last Wednesday with another goal in the club's round 26 Serie A clash against Cagliari at the Unipol Domus on Sunday afternoon.
Both teams played out a barren draw in the first period of the game with one shot on target apiece. With the game looking for someone to shake things up in the second half, the 25-year-old showed up.
Osimhen opened the scoring in the 65th minute when he powered in a header–from a Giacomo Raspadori's decent pass down the right flank–past the outstretched hands of Cagliari's despairing goalkeeper Simone Scuffet.
🇳🇬 Victor Osimhen scores a crucial header to give Napoli the lead. pic.twitter.com/axbY5koOi9
— SSC Napoli Club Nigeria 🇳🇬 🥇🏆 🏆 🏆 (@SSCNapoliNGA) February 25, 2024
So crucial was the goal for the Partenopei who got a fresh breath of life following that strike. Francesco Calzona's side would go on to create openings to double their lead with Matteo Politano missing a big chance to put the game out of the reach of Claudio Ranieri's men with added minutes left to play.
However, Politano's miss came back to haunt the Partenopei as Angolan Zito Luvumbu scored with great composure inside the box in the sixth and last minute of added time to earn a deserved 1-1 draw for the home side.
Victor Osimhen with his 10th goal of the season
Having missed a lot of matches so far this season for Napoli, the headed goal against Cagliari on Sunday takes Osimhen to double figures this campaign.
The reigning African Footballer of the Year has now netted 8 Serie A goals and 2 Champions League goals to take his number to 10 this season for Napoli.
The strike also means that the Nigerian has scored twice this season against Cagliari after also finding the back of the net in his club's 2-1 win over Ranieri's side last December.
Interestingly, since his debut 2020/21 season, only Harry Kane (24 goals) has scored more headed goals than Osimhen (18 goals) in the top 5 European leagues.
Next up for Napoli
Coach Calzona and his Napoli squad will now shift attention to their next league game.
They will travel to Reggio Emilia this coming Wednesday to take on Sassuolo at the Mapei Stadium and close out the month.
Ranked 9th on the table at the time of writing, Calzona will be eager to snap his run of back-to-back draws and register his first win since taking over the helm at Naples.
The target for the Italian gaffer is to bring Napoli back to European places on the Serie A table, a task which looks daunting with each point(s) dropped.
This article was most recently revised and updated 7 months ago
