Serie A: Impressive Start For Osimhen As Napoli Edge Out Parma

The Nigerian international was brilliant as he made his competitive debut for Napoli in the 2-0 win over Parma on Sunday

Victor Osimhen was a second-half substitute as Napoli opened their 2020/2021 Italian Serie A campaign with a comfortable victory over Parma at the Ennio Tardini Stadium.

Osimhen joined Gli Azzurri from Lille for a club and African record fee of 81.3 million euros, but he started his first Serie A game from the bench.

Napoli dominated possession, but the first half ended goalless. Gattuso’s men continued to dominate possession after the restart, but it took the introduction of Osimhen for them to break the deadlock.

With scores tied at 0-0, Osimhen was brought on for Diego Demme in the 61st minute, and two minutes later, the Nigerian had a hand in Napoli’s first goal.

Dries Mertens opened the scoring in the 63rd minute, but it came after Osimhen’s challenge caused Lacoponi to head a cross into the Belgian’s path. Osimhen’s introduction continued to trouble Parma’s defence while his link-up play was a delight to watch.

Minutes after playing a hand in the opener, the former Wolfsburg striker set up Fabian Ruiz and Lorenzo Insigne, but neither could find the net with the latter’s effort hitting the post.

However, Insigne would not be denied later as he scored Napoli’s second 13 minutes from time. Osimhen had a chance to add a third, but he could not find the target.

Nonetheless, he would be delighted with his performance on his first competitive appearance for Napoli.