Fine for Osimhen? Napoli make decision on penalty for Super Eagles striker after Garcia row

The Nigeria international had a faceoff with his manager in the closing stages of Napoli’s disappointing away draw with Bologna at the weekend

Napoli have decided not to impose a fine on Victor Osimhen for the Super Eagles striker’s behaviour during the Serie A meeting with Bologna on Sunday, Soccernet.ng reports. 

The Serie A champions endured another difficult encounter at Bologna as the Neapolitans’ slow start to the season continued.

Osimhen came closest to scoring for Napoli, but he saw the Bologna goalkeeper push his first-half shot onto the posts, and he also fired a second-half penalty wide off the posts.

In the 86th minute, Garcia replaced Osimhen with Argentine forward Giovanni Simeone. But the decision did not go down well with the Nigerian attacker, who was seen shouting at the head coach on the touchline.

Osimhen potentially faced a fine from Napoli following that clash with Garcia, with the club expected to discourage such actions from other players.

But the Nigerian striker has reportedly apologised to coach Garcia and his teammates in the dressing room, citing his desire to always win behind his outburst.

And according to Sky Sports, Napoli waived the option of slapping a fine on Osimhen as the issue has been resolved within the squad.

As per Sky Sports’ Francesco Modugno: “Fine for Osimhen? There will not be. The choice was to resolve the issue in the locker room.

“The player spoke to the captain and DS Meluso and realized he had made a mistake. The behavior in Bologna was unspeakable.

“The replacement? There was a lack of management on the part of the coach on a character level, given that the boy missed several goals in recent matches and wanted to help the team win.”

Earlier, coach Garcia made light of the confrontation with Osimhen, insisting that it was an incident already taken care of.

The former Al-Nassr manager gave his opinion on Osimhen’s missed penalty but refused to reveal what was discussed after the touchline showdown. 

Garcia said: “Even the greatest players in the history of football miss penalties. As for when he went off, we talked about that; what I say to my players remains in the locker room.

“We have a lot of quality in the squad and on the bench, so Simeone, [Matteo] Politano, and [Elif] Elmas came on; I still have Jesper [Lindstrom] available too. When we have this much quality, we can’t always have 90 minutes with the same men, especially as we have four games in nine days.”

Osimhen has three goals in Serie A this season, but the 24-year-old last his target 30 days ago in Napoli’s win over Sassuolo.