Poor Victor Osimhen misses big chance to get Napoli closer to high-flying Inter Milan, AC Milan

The Nigerian striker was nowhere near his clinical best as the Parthenpeans’ poor run continues

Napoli stumbled to a goalless draw at Bologna with star forward Victor Osimhen missing the biggest chance of the Serie A matchday five encounter, Soccernet.ng reports.

Having won none of their last two league games, Napoli went to the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara in Bologna with ambitions of claiming all three points at stake.

The reigning Serie A champions, however, met stiff resistance from their hosts, who battled hard to earn a share of the spoils.

Napoli had the biggest chance to break the deadlock in the 72nd minute after referee Giovanni Ayroldi awarded Rudi Garcia’s men a penalty. VAR spotted that Riccardo Calafiori handled the ball in the penalty box.

Osimhen stepped up to take the spot kick, but the Super Eagles striker sent the ball wide off target to the delight of the home fans.

The penalty miss highlighted Osimhen’s struggles in the encounter as he missed two big chances, struck the woodwork, won just one of his seven duels, and had two shots on target.

By the time the 24-year-old forward was replaced in the 86th minute, he had the lowest Sofascore rating of any player on the pitch at 5.6 – the lowest he has managed this term.

Interestingly, Osimhen, who was Serie A’s top goalscorer with 26 goals last season, has not scored in any of his last four games for Napoli in all competitions.

The former Lille lad last found the back of the net for Napoli in a 2-0 win over Sassuolo on August 27. Il Partenopei have not recorded another league victory since.

With the draw, eight-placed Napoli have lost significant ground on Serie A leaders Inter Milan and AC Milan. 

Rudi Garcia’s men have eight points from five games and are seven behind Inter and four behind Milan. Juventus in fourth place have ten points.