Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen reached a career landmark in Napoli’s 2-0 win over Sassuolo at the Mapei Stadium on Friday night.
The 24-year-old’s strike in the 33rd minute took his career tally to a century of goals, and he also became the first Napoli player to score in seven consecutive games in the three-point era.
VICTOR OSIMHEN SCORES HIS 100TH CAREER GOAL! pic.twitter.com/HoZSZdfvM2
— Soar Super Eagles (@SSE_NGA) February 17, 2023
Osimhen has now found the back of the net 47 times for the Partenopei, including 18 goals in the Serie A this season, where he is the leading scorer.
He scored 20 goals in a season for Belgian side Sporting Charleroi, 18 goals for Ligue 1 club Lille, and is currently on 15 goals for the Nigerian senior team.
Khvicha 𝖪𝗏𝖺𝗋𝖺𝗍𝗌𝗄𝗁𝖾𝗅𝗂𝖺 opened the scoring for the Luciano Spaletti side in the 12th minute with a brilliant solo run. Sassuolo responded immediately with an attempt of theirs, but the woodwork denied French forward Armand Lauriente.
Osimhen almost doubled his side’s lead, but his powerful strike cannoned off the post. However, the relentless striker would not be denied his opener or Napoli’s second as he powered past two Sassuolo defenders to score an outrageous goal from an acute angle.
The Nigerian star could have gotten his second goal of the game, but his header from inside the penalty area was just off target.
Lauriente thought he had pulled one back for the Black and Greens, but VAR had other ideas as the goal was ruled offside.
Napoli started the second half aggressively, continuing to build waves of attack, but Osimhen was the culprit once more, as he missed a golden opportunity to put the tie to bed just five minutes after the restart.
Later on, Giovanni Simeone came on to replace Osimhen, who was limping as he was substituted. The Argentine wasted no time as he headed a cross from Hirving Lozano, but the latter was deemed offside.
Osimhen’s run in Serie A this season is nothing short of inspiring, as the former Wolfsburg striker has the third-best minutes-per-goal ratio (124) of any player with a minimum of 15 goals in the Italian top flight since the 1994-95 season. He sits just behind two all-time greats, Cristiano Ronaldo (104) and Ronaldo Nazario de Lima (117).
🥇 @Cristiano
🥈 @Ronaldo
🥉 @victorosimhen9Osimhen has the third-best mins-per-goal ratio in Serie A since 94/95 🔵🇮🇹👏 pic.twitter.com/CMLvUMNzBy
— LiveScore (@livescore) February 17, 2023
Napoli’s win was their 20th of the season after 23 games, and they are on 63 points – 18 points above Inter Milan, who play Udinese on Saturday.
They have also scored 56 goals in Serie A, surpassing their previous record of 55 goals at this point of the season.