TheNewsGuru

Tag: Napoli

  • Super Eagles striker makes me lose sleep – Italy legend

    Super Eagles striker makes me lose sleep – Italy legend

    Former Inter Milan striker Sandro Mazzola has confessed he “loses sleep” whenever Super Eagles star Victor Osimhen touches the ball.

    The Napoli frontman has been in great form for the Parthenopeans in Serie A this campaign, managing to score five goals from 10 appearances.

    On Sunday, Napoli will look to extend their 12-match unbeaten run when they take on Inter Milan in a top-flight fixture at San Siro Stadium.

    According to the Italian legend Mazzola, Inter should be wary of the threat posed by the former Lille forward.

    “There is that centre-forward there, Victor [Osimhen], who is really strong. It makes me lose sleep. Every time he touches the ball he manages to amaze me; it’s surprising,” Mazzola told Kiss Kiss Napoli as quoted by notizie-inter.it.

  • Insigne scores 2 penalty kicks as Napoli go top of Serie A

    Insigne scores 2 penalty kicks as Napoli go top of Serie A

    Lorenzo Insigne scored twice from the penalty kick spot as Napoli returned to the top of the Serie A standings after a 3-0 home win against Bologna on Thursday.

    The result meant they are level on points with AC Milan, also unbeaten.

    Spain midfielder Fabian Ruiz opened the scoring in the 18th minute at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium.

    He scored with a left-footed shot into the top corner from outside the penalty box which gave goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski no chance.

    Team captain Insigne doubled the tally from the penalty kick spot in the 41st minute.

    This was after a VAR decision confirmed Chilean centre-back Gary Medel had handled the ball in the area, under pressure from Victor Osimhen.

    Insigne, who had missed a good 15th minute chance, stepped up and fired into the bottom corner.

    His second came in the 62nd minute, right-footed to the bottom left, after another VAR review when Osimhen went down in the area.

    There was to be no hat trick however, with Insigne taken off three minutes later.

    Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti was absent from the dugout as he served a touchline ban after being sent off in the 0-0 draw at Roma last Sunday.

    Napoli now have nine wins and a draw from 10 games and Thursday’s result extended their unbeaten run at home in Serie A to 16 games.

    Bologna dropped to 12th in the standings.

  • I’ve always rated Super Eagles striker ahead of Mbappe – Spalletti

    I’ve always rated Super Eagles striker ahead of Mbappe – Spalletti

    Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti admits he rates Victor Osimhen ahead of PSG star Kylian Mbappe.

    When former Lazio sports chief Walter Sabatini was asked to choose between Osimhen and Mbappé, he opted for the Napoli centre-forward.

    “If I were to pick one of them, I’d go for Osimhen. He is unstoppable, because he can run onto seemingly impossible balls and make them count,” Sabatini told the Corriere dello Sport.

    “Right now, I would choose Osimhen.”

    Spalletti was asked the same question ahead of Sunday’s clash with Roma.

    “I agree with what he said and I have always thought that,” smiled Spalletti.

  • Victor Osimhen equals Mertens’ Napoli record

    Victor Osimhen equals Mertens’ Napoli record

    Super Eagles striker has become the second Napoli player to score in three straight games in a European competition in the 21st century after Dries Mertens.

    Osimhen scored Napoli’s second goal in their 3-0 thrashing of Legia Warsaw in a Uefa Europa League game on Thursday.

    The 22-year-old started the encounter on the bench and he was introduced for Hirving Lozano, just before the hour-mark.

    Osimhen has now scored four goals in three Europa League matches this campaign and he also has a tally of five goals after seven league appearances for the Serie A leaders.

    The former Lille talisman is the second-highest scoring player in the Europa League this season alongside Leicester City’s Patson Daka who scored four goals in a game after Cameroon’s Karl Toko Ekambi who has five goals for Lyon so far.

  • Europa: West Ham ease to third successive win, Napoli sink Legia

    Europa: West Ham ease to third successive win, Napoli sink Legia

    West Ham United moved closer to the Europa League knockout stage as goals from Craig Dawson, Issa Diop and Jarrod Bowen secured a 3-0 home win over Belgium’s Genk on Thursday night.

    The result meant the English Premier League side continued their perfect start in Group H.

    West Ham top the standings on nine points ahead of Dinamo Zagreb, Rapid Vienna and Genk who have three each, after the London side kept a third successive clean sheet in Europe’s second-tier competition.

    Dawson fired West Ham ahead with a looping header on the stroke of halftime and Diop made it 2-0 from a second assist by Aaron Cresswell before Bowen added the third with a deflected shot on the hour.

    Napoli kept alive their hopes of advancing from Group C after Lorenzo Insigne, Victor Osimhen and Matteo Politano secured a 3-0 home win over Legia Warsaw.

    Legia stayed top with six points from three games while Napoli and Leicester City, who enjoyed a rollercoaster 4-3 win at Spartak Moscow on Wednesday, have four each. Fourth-placed Spartak have three points.

    Insigne fired Napoli ahead in the 75th minute with a superb first-time shot before in-form Osimhen netted his ninth goal of the season in all competitions and Politano sealed the win with a long-range strike.

    Olympique Lyonnais maintained their perfect start in Group A as they overturned a two-goal deficit for a 4-3 win at Sparta Prague, who took a 2-0 lead thanks to a first-half brace from Lukas Haraslin.

    Lyon hit back as Karl Toko Ekambi scored twice while Houssem Aouar and Lucas Paqueta added one each before Ladislav Krejci pulled one back in stoppage time.

    Lyon stayed top on nine points ahead of Sparta on four and Rangers, who have three after beating Brondby 2-0 at home thanks to first-half goals from Leon Balgoun and Kemar Roofe.

    In Group D, Eintracht Frankfurt leapt into pole position on seven points, one ahead of Olympiakos after a 3-1 home win over the Greek side.

    Both teams are well-placed to progress as third-placed Fenerbahce have two points and Royal Antwerp one after their 2-2 draw.

    Monaco went top of Group B on seven points from three games with a 2-1 win at PSV Eindhoven and Real Sociedad are two points behind after a 1-0 victory at Sturm Graz.

  • Osimhen reminds me of a younger Edinson Cavani – Atzori

    Osimhen reminds me of a younger Edinson Cavani – Atzori

    Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen with his recent form in Europe, has been compared to the younger version of Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani by Gianluca Atzori.

    After a shaky debut season at Napoli due to coronavirus and injury issues, the 22-year-old has been progressing in the 2021-22 campaign.

    So far, he boasts seven goals in eight appearances for Luciano Spalletti’s men who currently lead the Serie A table thanks to a perfect start.

    “He started very strongly, and when a striker starts in confidence, usually, he enjoys this throughout the year,” Atzori said on 1 Station Radio, as per Tuttonapoli.net.

    “He is physical, and he helps the team a lot and reminds me of the younger Cavani.

    “I wish him to continue like this and make the same career as the Matador.”

  • Serie A: Napoli’s Osimhen grabs brace in 4-0 rout to reclaim top spot

    Serie A: Napoli’s Osimhen grabs brace in 4-0 rout to reclaim top spot

    Napoli reclaimed top spot in Serie A as in-form striker Victor Osimhen struck twice in an impressive 4-0 win at Sampdoria on Thursday, their fifth consecutive league victory.

    Luciano Spalletti’s side are two points clear of Inter Milan and AC Milan with a perfect 15 points, scoring 14 goals and conceding two in their five games.

    Osimhen’s cushioned volley put the visitors ahead after 10 minutes at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris before two good saves from David Ospina denied Sampdoria an equaliser.

    Napoli pulled clear through an arrowed Fabian Ruiz strike before the break, and explosive strikes from Osimhen and Piotr Zielinski completed the rout.

    Osimhen, who had enough opportunities to score a hat-trick, took his tally to five goals in five games in all competitions as the Partenopei continued to make an early statement about their title credentials.

    Speaking after the game, Spalletti said: ‘It was a good result today, but Sampdoria caused us problems in the first half.

    “Where we deserve credit is for hanging in there, resisting the pressure and then finishing our chances well.

    “Ospina did really well in goal during the first half, as Sampdoria pounced on us from the start, but that left huge gaps behind their defence, and in those situations Osimhen is devastating.

    “When the game is not going well, you have to try to get something from the individuals and that’s what we did,”

  • Victor Osimhen not yet world-class striker – Rohr

    Victor Osimhen not yet world-class striker – Rohr

    Super Eagles head coach, Gernot Rohr believes Napoli striker Victor Osimhen has made tremendous progress in his game, but not yet a world-class player.

    Osimhen opened his account for the season with a brace against Leicester City in a Europa League group stage match in England on Thursday night.

    “Victor is currently one of the best strikers in Europe, but not yet in the world,” Rohr told Tuttomercatoweb.com. “Osimhen is young, ambitious and very motivated.”

    “I think he has what it takes to become a great striker, one of the best ever. But he still has to grow.” Rohr added.

     

  • Losing at Leicester would’ve been unjust – Napoli coach

    Losing at Leicester would’ve been unjust – Napoli coach

    Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti was delighted with his players after their 2-2 draw at Europa League opponents Leicester City.

    The Foxes were 2-0 ahead before Victor Osimhen struck twice to earn the point.

    “The team started the right way, then lost the ball a few too many times building out from the back and those proved costly,” Spalletti told Sky Italia.

    “After that, we took the initiative throughout and it remained a perfectly balanced match. We reacted to conceding the second goal just as we were really pushing, and that was a risky situation, because we could’ve let our heads drop.

    “Instead, we pushed even harder and got it back on level terms, because it frankly would’ve been unjust if we had lost this game.

    “We saw today that this team has a strong character, which had been a weakness in previous years. The team reacted really well.

    “I want to compliment those who came off the bench, because they proved their quality and it makes it easier for everyone, because they are not fighting to take the place of another teammate, but to play alongside him.”

    Spalletti added: “Osimhen still has a few things to learn and then he will become a super hitman. Comparisons are easy, but would be with some of the best forwards in the world.

    “He needs to improve in the precision of his choices, both his finishing and the runs, because at times he runs for no reason.”

  • Europa: Victor Osimhen grabs brace in Napoli draw at Leicester

    Europa: Victor Osimhen grabs brace in Napoli draw at Leicester

    Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen denied Leicester the perfect start in the Europa League as Napoli hit back from 2-0 down to snatch a point.

    The striker struck twice in the second half as the visitors deservedly grabbed a 2-2 draw in Group C at the King Power Stadium.

    Ayoze Perez’s first goal since March and Harvey Barnes’ second-half goal gave the Foxes a commanding lead.

    But Osimhen grabbed a classy lifeline for the visitors and then headed in a late leveller, with Leicester’s frustrations compounded when Wilfred Ndidi was sent off in injury time.

    Police and stewards had to control a disturbance between the home and travelling fans at full time with missiles thrown between supporters.

    Napoli controlled much of the game and were almost left to rue several missed chances with Osimhen, Hirving Lozano, Piotr Zielinski and Kevin Malcuit all wasteful in the first half.

    The Foxes – who only introduced Jamie Vardy as a late substitute – go to Legia Warsaw, who won at Spartak Moscow on Wednesday, in two weeks.

    In another encounter also played on Thursday, Steven Gerrard’s 50th European tie as Rangers boss ended in a 2-0 Europa League defeat by Lyon at Ibrox.

    Cameroon international Karl Toko Ekambi fired in a terrific opener for the French side after 22 minutes of the Group A opener in Govan.

    The Scottish champions had come close on a few occasions in the first half but in the 55th minute Gers skipper James Tavernier put through his own goal trying to stop a close-range shot from Islam Slimani.

    Despite a huge effort from the home side, it was too big a lead to claw back.