SSC Napoli of Italy striker, Victor Osimhen was the centre of attraction on almost all sports headlines across Italy, following his stunning goal in his first game back after suffering a scary head injury in action against Atalanta, megasportsarena.com reports.
The Super Eagles’ youngster was back doing what he likes doing most almost three weeks after collapsing on the pitch in the late minutes of his side’s loss away to Atalanta and, despite widespread worries that he could match rusty, Osimhen made hay with a well-taken goal that set many tongues wagging.
Such it was that Italian sports headlines on Monday were awash with details of how the former VfL Wolfsburg of Germany, Sporting Charleroi of Belgium and Lille Metropole of France striker made hay for Gennaro Gattuso’s side in a 3-1 win over visiting Bologna.
Osimhen entered Sunday’s game at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona as a second half substitute in the 53rd minute, for his first match back since the concussion he suffered after a clash of heads at Bergamo and, though he had not scored since November 8, he ended that poor run by netting Napoli’s second goal less than 12 minutes after going on.
He received the ball from Piotr Zielinski in a counter attack near the center circle, took a brilliant first touch and out-sprinted Bologna center back, Danilo before slotting home with a composed right-footed finish to double the host team’s advantage.
Lorenzo Insigne scored Napoli’s other goals and Roberto Soriano pulled one back for the visitors, but Osimhen’s effort helped his side stay sixth in the standings with 47 points from 25 matches before their trip to AC Milan on Sunday, ahead of which rave reviews are rolling out in favour of the Chile 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup top scorer.
The feat means Osimhen finally ended an eight game wait for the end to a scoreless streak that stretched over three months, aggravated by a shoulder injury on international duty, coronavirus infection while celebrating his 22nd birthday in Lagos and concussion from the knock in action against Atalanta.
During his period of downturn, Osimhen, who also scored earlier in the season away to the same Bologna, had missed 19 games in all competitions, thereby putting a cloud over his first season in Naples after the summer arrival from Lille.
