Serie A: Osimhen’s brilliance helps Napoli maintain perfect start

The 22-year-old’s brilliant scoring streak came to an end, but he still played a key role as the Neapolitans made it seven out of seven in the Italian top-flight this season

Victor Osimhen’s brilliance helped Napoli to a 2-1 win against Fiorentina in their Italian Serie A clash at the Artemio Franchi Stadium on Sunday evening. 

Osimhen was in action for 84 minutes, and yet again, he was a thorn in the flesh of the opposition defence. The Nigerian international caused all sort of trouble for Fiorentina’s centre-back pairing of Nikola Milenković and Lucas Martínez Quarta. 

Surprisingly, it was Martínez Quarta’s strike that put the home side ahead in the 28th minute. However, Napoli restored parity in the 38th minute, with Osimhen playing a crucial part.

The former Lille man earned a penalty for the away side after he was upended in the box by Martínez Quarta, who went from hero to villain. 

Lorenzo Insigne stepped up to take the resulting penalty but missed. However, Hirving Lozano was on hand to tap home the rebound to ensure both sides went into the break with the scores tied. 

The second half resumed with Napoli dominating possession, and their efforts were rewarded when Amir Rrahmani headed home a Piotr Zieliński freekick five minutes after the restart. 

Luciano Spalletti had more chances to double their lead, with one falling to Osimhen, but the Super Eagles star could not direct his shot on target. 

The miss did not matter, though, as Napoli held on for their seventh win out of seven games in the Italian Serie A this season.