Osimhen Fires First Serie A Hat Trick, Moves Napoli Six Points Clear

Duro Ikhazuagbe with agency report

Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen, scored his first ever Italian Serie A hat-trick as Napoli thrashed Sassuolo to move six points clear at the top of the league.

The Nigerian international Osimhen, 23, struck twice in the first 19 minutes before dinking in his third following Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s goal.

The duo have recorded 16 goals and 11 assists between them this season in all competitions.

The victory extends Napoli’s club-record winning run to 13 games.

Osimhen was out for over a month with a thigh injury but has scored six goals in his last four matches across all competitions since his return.

Kvaratskhelia, whose own prolific form continues, provided the assist for Osimhen’s first two goals – a stabbed effort from close range after a sublime touch and a poke into the bottom corner from Kvaratskhelia’s cut-back – before the Georgia forward netted one of his own, his eighth of the season.

Osimhen rounded off the rout with a chip over the keeper, Napoli’s 50th goal across Serie A and the Champions League this season as they continue their hunt for a first league title in 32 years.

Before the game Napoli paid tribute to club legend Diego Maradona, who would have turned 62 years old today.

The Argentine great, who also played for Barcelona, Sevilla and Boca Juniors, made 257 appearances for the Italian side, winning two Serie A titles and a UEFA Cup in 1989.

Napoli’s current 13-match winning run further surpasses the previous record of 11 straight wins set by Maradona’s side in 1986, the season in which he captained Napoli to their first ever league title.