Two Napoli players were in action on Sunday: Giacomo Raspadori and Victor Osimhem. Alex Meret and Giovanni Di Lorenzo suited up for Italy’s UEFA Nations League 3rd-place match against the Netherlands but neither featured in the match.
Consolation
Giacomo Raspadori was amongst the seven changes Roberto Mancini made to the squad he fielded in Italy’s Nations League Semi-final against Spain. The Napoli winger was lively and energetic in his 63 minutes of play. He assisted Federico Dimarco’s opener with a clever backheel pass only six minutes into the match.
Though the match was of little consequence, Italy were much more fluid in attack with the likes of Raspadori, Matteo Retegui and Wilfried Gnonto playing as a front three. However, the improved attack seemed to come at the expense of the defense, who were often exposed in the match. The match should have been put to bed when Federico Chiesa came off the bench to make the score 3-1. However, minutes after Wout Weghorst’s goal was disallowed by the VAR, Roma player Gini Wijnaldum reduced the lead to one. With nine minutes of stoppage time, the Netherlands had ample time to find an equalizer, but Italy hung on for the victory.
7th and Counting
Victor Osimhen carried his fine form into Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations Group A qualification match against Sierra Leone. The Napoli striker nearly opened the scoring in the 15th minute, when Moses Simon picked him out with a cross to the second post. However, Sierra Leone goalkeeper Ibrahim Sesay did well to push the header away.
There was little Sesay could do on the opening goal a few minutes later. Osimhen chased down Kenneth Omeruo’s header from a Sierra Leone goal kick before lobbing the keeper from the edge of the area.
Osimhen should have added an assist in the 27th minute after chasing Omeruo’s long ball towards the Nigeria left wing. The Serie A Capocannoniere outmuscled Alpha Turay before controlled the ball with his chest and picking out Samuel Chukwueze in space. The Villareal forward had only the keeper to beat, but once again Sesay came up with a big save.
Osimhen doubled Nigeria’s lead in the 33rd minute. Unfortunately, the goal was not caught on camera due to technical difficulties. With his 17th goal for his country, the Napoli man moved up to seventh in Nigeria’s top goal-scorer charts, and he is still only 24 years of age. Osimhen could quickly catch Segun Odegbami for second in the charts. Odegbami scored 23 goals in 46 matches for Nigeria. The leader, Rashidi Yekini, will be more difficult to catch, with 37 goals in 58 appearances.
Nigeria thought they tripled their lead in the 36th minute when Osimhen slipped the ball through to Chukwueze. The winger eventually bumbled the ball into the back of the net, but he was ruled offside on the play. Moments later Osimhen squared the ball to Simon, who was all alone at the edge of the 6-yard box, but once again Sesay made a fantastic save, this time at the near post.
The missed opportunities nearly proved to be costly for Nigeria. Sierra Leone pulled one back five minutes before the break and then shockingly equalized five minutes before the end of normal time. The home side’s second came moments after Osimhen was removed from the match after picking up a knock.
Sierra Leone continued to push forward, needing a victory to keep their qualification hopes alive. Instead, Nigeria scored the winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Osimhen cheered from the touchline as Kelechi Iheanacho tapped in the square ball from Zaidu Sanusi. With the victory, Nigeria guaranteed their place in the AFCON final.
After the match, Liberia President and 1995 World, European and African Footballer of the Year George Weah had nothing but praise for Osimhen, who increased his qualification round goal total to seven.
“That is what I call a striker. Good positioning always. Very athletic and knows where to be each time the ball is coming. He is so strong and a fighter par excellence.”
