Several Nigerians were on the scorer’s sheet for their different clubs across Europe’s major leagues, and the former Lille man has added his name to the mix
Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen and French midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko were on target as Napoli hammered Torino 2-0 away from home on Monday evening.
Torino are no slobs, with the hosts losing none of their last four games while scoring eight goals in their previous three home matches.
But Gennaro Gattuso’s men knew before kick-off that a win at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino would lift them above Juventus into fourth-place, the last Champions League qualification spot.
And the visitors wasted no time getting down to business with ex-Chelsea man Bakayoko opening the scoring in the 11th minute.
Osimhen then grabbed his fourth goal in his sixth match in April two minutes later when he finished off a swift Napoli counter-attack following Nicolas N’Koulou’s defensive blunder.
A poor first touch following Lorenzo Insigne’s fine cross from the free-kick denied Osimhen the chance to net his second of the game shortly after the break.
And the Nigerian international failed to score from another glorious opportunity as goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu parried his effort when he seemed certain to find the back of the net.
A rough challenge on Karol Linetty earned Osimhen his second yellow card of the season midway into the second period.
And the 22-year-old Nigerian was replaced in the 80th minute by Andrea Petagna shortly after testing Sirigu’s palms with another fierce shot.
But the win had already been secured with Napoli joining AC Milan and Juventus on 66 points, two shy of second-place Atalanta with five more games left of the season.
In the end, two early goals from Bakayoko and Osimhen are enough for a dominant Napoli to secure the three points and leapfrog Juventus into fourth place.
This post was last modified on April 26, 2021 8:20 pm