Osimhen opens Napoli goal scoring account

Nigerian striker, Victor Osimhen scored his first league goal for Italian club, SSC Napoli on Saturday in the 4-1 victory over Atalanta.

Osimhen had failed to score in his two previous games for Napoli before he eventually made the breakthrough against Atalanata at the San Paolo Stadium.

The 21-year-old attacker fired blanks on his league debut against AC Parma at Stadio Ennio Tardini on September 20 when he got a 29 minute run out after replacing Diego Demme on 61 minutes.

He played all 90 minutes against Genoa on September 27 and even though the Partenopei won 6-0, Osimhen only had an assist for Piotr Zieliński’s goal on 46 minute to show for his troubles.

Redemption was however to arrive for Osimhen against the high-flying Bergamo club, Atalanta as he scored a stupendous goal just before half time.

Surrounded by four Atalanta defenders, the Nigerian disoplayed coldblooded instincts and pin point accuracy as he fired unerringly from 30 odd yards into the bottom corner past a shell-shocked Cristian Romero.

Osimhen and the Napoli head coach, Gennaro Gattuso shared an emotional hug after the goals and the Italian trainer was effusive in his praise of the Nigeria when he addressed the media afterwards.

“Clear and deserved victory”

“We prepared the match very well, I had thought of it just like that, in terms of performance,” he told the club’s official website.

“I didn’t expect a wide result because I know that Atalanta is a very strong team, but I must say that we had a great match.”  

“I’m happy for Chucky (Lozano’s) brace, but Osimhen’s goal makes me happy because he hadn’t scored so far and he deserved it for the hard work done for the team”  

“Victor was my wish and I thank the President for having satisfied me.

“It wasn’t easy but we have bought a player who is very important to us.”