Osimhen Opens Napoli's Goal Account With Hat-Trick

Osimhen Opens Napoli's Goal Account With Hat-Trick

By Sampson Adedeji

Newly acquired Nigeria's Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen started his Napoli adventure on a good note as he fired hat trick in the club 11-0 win, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

Osimhen joined Napoli this summer from French Lique One side LOSC Lille for a club record fee.

The Partenopei officially began their pre-season preparations with a mini-tournament against local teams Castel di Sangro and L’Aquila.

Coach Gennaro Gattuso used a 4-3-3 formation for the opener, a 10-0 victory over Castel di Sangro with Matteo Politano bagging a hat-trick, braces for Arkadiusz Milik and Amin Younes, then goals for Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Gianluca Gaetano and a spectacular Kalidou Koulibaly overhead kick.

Gattuso changed things up for the second match with L’Aquila, which was probably closer to the team we’ll see starting the Serie A season.

It was a 4-2-3-1 system with Hirving Lozano, Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne fanning out behind summer signing Osimhen.

It’s safe to say the Nigerian got off to a good start, as he’d sprinted past defenders to score within 59 seconds.

Osimhen’s second goal arrived within three minutes and he’d completed his hat-trick by the eighth.

A Faouzi Ghoulam header, Insigne hat-trick, plus braces for Lozano and Mertens rounded out the scoreline at 11-0.

Osimhen showed precisely what Gattuso had meant when he said the striker wasn’t just a target man, as the former Lille forward also contributed two assists and sparked several other moves with his passes.