Nigeria’s top scorer in Serie A history nets first goal of the season

Salernitana have struggled for goals and victory since their promotion to the top-flight, but their Nigerian import got them off the mark on Saturday afternoon

Simy Nwankwo hit the back of the net in the first half of the game to give Salernitana the lead in their October 16 Serie A clash at Spezia.

The out-of-favour Super Eagles striker opened the scoring for the visitors five minutes before the halftime break.

It was a goal made in Nigeria as forgotten Nigerian international Joel Obi controlled a cross from Luca Ranieri and fed Simy, who did the rest, expertly beating Ivan Provedel in the home side’s goal.

The visitors had managed only five goals in seven games prior to Simy’s strike. The Nigerian forward was also on a goal drought as he had not scored since he joined Salernitana in the summer from Crotone.

But the 29-year-old is Nigeria’s top goalscorer in the Italian Serie A with 30 goals, two more than former Inter Milan’s Obafemi Martins. And it was only a matter of time before the man who smashed in 20 Serie A goals broke the duck.

However, Simy’s goal was not enough to secure the maximum points for Salernitana as David Strelec and Viktor Kovalenko struck in the second half to power Spezia to a 2-1 home win.