Victor Osimhen was red carded in a heated Serie A showdown on Saturday night as Napoli suffered a 2-0 defeat against Roma.
The current African footballer of the year, who earlier in the day signed a new contract committed two fouls in 12 minutes as center referee Andrea Colombo wasted no time in flashing his second yellow and a subsequent red card.
Osimhen’s dismissal left Napoli two men down on the field, compounding their woes as they trailed by a goal.
The match was riddled with discord, as Osimhen’s strike partner, Matteo Politano, had already been sent off earlier in the tense encounter, leading to a total of 11 yellow cards. Both clubs’ coaches were also booked for their protestations.
Roma’s on-loan striker, Romelu Lukaku scored his side’s second goal of the encounter to seal the win for the Rome based side.
One minute after Osimhen bagged his first yellow card of the game, Lorenzo Pellegrini had earlier put Roma in the lead.
With this loss, Napoli slid to seventh place on the Serie A table, amassing 27 points from 17 matches. Roma capitalized on the victory, leapfrogging above Napoli in the standings.