Osimhen matches Maradona’s milestone with hattrick in Napoli’s thrashing of Sassuolo

Osimhen has been in superb form for Napoli since he returned from the AFCON

Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen scored a hattrick for Napoli in their 6-1 drubbing of Sassuolo at the Mapei Stadium- Citta del Tricolore on Wednesday, Soccernet.ng reports.

Napoli returned to Serie A action with a fixture away at Sassuolo. The Partenopeans had drawn their last two games under the tutelage of Francesco Calzona and needed a win to keep their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League alive.

As expected, Osimhen led the line for the Partenopeans, supported by Matteo Politano and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Napoli had a poor start to the game, as they fell behind after 17 minutes, courtesy of a goal from Uros Racic. However, Napoli came storming back, and Osimhen led the comeback.

Amir Rrahmani scored the equalizer for Napoli in the 29th minute. Then, Osimhen struck twice in the 31st and 41st minute, slotting past Sassuolo goalkeeper Andrea Consigli to give Napoli a 3-1 lead.

They took the lead into the break, and they started the second half with a bang, as Osimhen cooly converted a pass from Kvaratskhelia to make it 4-1.

Then, in the 51st minute, Osimhen turned provider, setting up Kvaratskhelia for Napoli’s fifth. The Georgian then wrapped up the scoring in the 75th minute, making it 6-1.

Osimhen had a great game. In his 76 minutes of action, he registered five goal attempts and scored three. His hattrick takes him to ten goals this season, and he is now the third player in Napoli’s history to score at least ten goals in four consecutive Serie A seasons, after Diego  Maradona (1984/85 – 1987/88) and Attila Sallustro (1929/30 – 1932/33).

It finished 6-1 at Sassuolo, and with the win, Napoli now sit eight points behind the Champions League spots.