Victor Osimhen Another Napoli Milestone

Global soccer

He may not have had a great outing for the Super Eagles at the recently concluded Africa Cup of Nations in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, in terms of goals scored. Since returning to his club, Napoli, however, Victor Osimhen has banged in five goals, his last being a hat-trick midweek, which takes his goal haul this season to 11, making him the third Napoli player to have scored double digit goals in four straight seasons alongside legendary Diego Maradona and Attila Sallustro

Nigeria international and reigning African Footballer of the Year, Victor   Osimhen, was at his goalscoring best midweek for the Neapolitans. The 25-year-old was at the centre of some of the most eye-catching highlights as Napoli demolished Sassuolo in their Serie A clash on Wednesday.

The Super Eagles forward netted a hat-trick to power Napoli to a 6-1 victory over Sassuolo at the MAPEI Stadium.

Sassuolo and Napoli traded early goals before Osimhen got his first of the night with an expert finish in the 31st minute to make it 2-1 for the Scudetto winners.

It was, however, observed shortly after Osimhen’s goal that a portion of the net that Sassuolo goalkeeper Andrea Consigli was guarding had ripped off the crossbar.

The referee paused the game and requested that a masking tape be provided with which the net could be fixed to the large horizontal metal rod again.

When the tape arrived, goalkeeper Andrea Consigli, boasting a good 1.89m in height, was the best candidate to get the job done.

But Osimhen, who is not a short man by any means at 1.85m, took it upon himself to tape the net firmly back to the body of the crossbar.

The Super Eagles striker did a good job of it, and play resumed immediately after.

However, Osimhen showed no pity for the plight of the Italian goalie barely five minutes later when he clipped home his second goal of the game and Napoli’s third of the night.

Moments into the second half, Osimhen bagged his hat-trick following a terrible defensive error from Sassuolo to add more misery on 37-year-old Andrea Consigli.

Osimhen has now scored in his last three games for Napoli since returning from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, where he helped Nigeria win a silver medal.

The 25-year-old striker found the net for Napoli in their 1-1 draw with Barcelona in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League knockout round tie.

He was also on target at the weekend as Napoli and Cagliari settled for a 1-1 draw.

This season, Osimhen’s goal tally has increased to 11, making it the fourth consecutive year he would hit double-digit goals for the Neapolitans.

Only the legendary Diego Maradona and Attila Sallustro have ever managed such a feat in Napoli’s history.

Osimhen moved to 13th spot in Napoli’s all-time scorers chart after he bagged his first hat-trick of the season within 16 minutes.

It was his second hat-trick against Sassuolo since arriving in Italy in 2020. The former Lille striker scored his first against the Neroverdi on October 29, 2022.

The treble also took Osimhen’s tally to five in three games for Napoli since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations and his 13th across all competitions this season.

With this treble, Osimhen becomes the third player in Napoli’s history to score at least 10 goals in four consecutive Serie A seasons after the late Diego Maradona (between 1984/85 and 1987/88) and Attila Sallustro (between 1929/30 and 1932/33).

Osimhen has now scored 72 goals in 122 games for Napoli and he is now joint fourth with Paulo Dybala in Serie A top scorers standings with 11 goals from 15 games.

Meanwhile, Chelsea fans have all been saying the same thing after Osimhen scored the hat-trick for Napoli against Sassuoloon Wednesday evening.

His 11 goals so far this campaign follow a whopping 26 last season, 14 in 2021/22 and 10 in 2020/21.

Due to his form in recent years, Osimhen has been constantly linked to a switch to the Premier League.

His latest hat-trick has now led to Blues fans wanting to bring in the £120million-valued frontman more than ever.

There were some claims that Osimhen was going to cost too much for Chelsea but after his latest performance, fans disagree.

One supporter sarcastically posted on X: “He’s not worth the money” accompanied by laughing faces and Osimhen’s 9.7 match ratings.

Another wrote: “Todd Boehly, if you were looking for a sign, that’s your sign. Chelsea would be unstoppable with Victor Osimhen.”

“Victor Osimhen is worth all the hype, get him to Chelsea this summer,” another fan said.

Meanwhile, Matteo Politano has said the return of Osimhen from the 2023 AFCON has given Napoli the needed hope, after their 6-1 victory over Sassuolo.

“We knew it was fundamental, we were missing this win and I think we proved today that we are a strong squad. It is a pity we lost so many points along the way, but if this is the approach, I am sure we can do well over the next few games,” Politano told DAZN.

“We needed a match like this, as it is important in terms of mentality and confidence, we had recently lost some of our self-belief. We stepped onto the pitch calm and knowing our capabilities.”

It was the first win since new coach Calzona took charge after 1-1 draws with Barcelona and Cagliari.

This is also the Nigerian’s second Serie A career brace and curiously the other one was also against Sassuolo.

“It is a difficult season, the third coach of the campaign, but many of us knew him already as he worked with Sarri and then Spalletti. From the first day, he showed us his style of football, even if we didn’t have many training sessions,” added Politano.