Osimhen hits brace as Napoli win five in a row

Osimhen (l) has explained why he is not a Napoli icon yet

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SERIE A Osimhen hits brace as Napoli win five in a row

Ayoola Kelechi 14:46 - 05.02.2023

Osimhen hit goals number 15 and 16 for Napoli in their 3-0 win

Victor Osimhen scored two late goals for Napoli as they continued their dominance of the Serie A with a 3-0 win over Spezia. 

Osimhen scored Napoli's second and third goals after Georgian midfielder, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, opened the scoring with a penalty just after the restart. 

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The 3-0 win puts Napoli 16 points clear at the top of Serie A with Inter still to play later. 

How it happened 

The league’s most in-sync duo made all the difference again for Napoli as they steamrolled Spezia. 

Spezia, languishing just above the relegation zone in 17th place, held their own against runaway league leaders Napoli for the opening half and restricted their visitors to mostly speculative efforts hoping to pull off another Serie A miracle. 

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After 45 minutes, Napoli had registered seven shots on goal, but only three from inside the 18-yard box, and only one effort on target, so both sides went into the break at 0-0

Any hopes that Spezia had of repeating their first-half heroics were quickly dashed as just a minute after the restart, wing-back Arkadiusz Reca misjudged the flight of a pass and ended up handling the ball in the penalty area. 

Up stepped one of Napoli’s players of the season, Kvaratskhelia to give Napoli the lead from the spot and open the floodgates for the Partenopei. 

Once Spezia let their guard down, Napoli took full advantage of the gaps, and soon found a second goal through Nigeria international Osimhen who netted his 15th goal of the league season after taking advantage of a mix-up in the Spezia box. 

Kvaratskhelia's goal which gave Napoli the lead was his eighth in Serie A this season, but that is not his strong suit, he is a more adept creator than he is a goalscorer and he showed that once again when he fashioned a chance for Osimhen which the Nigerian forward duly converted for his 16th goal in 16 league starts. 

The assist was Kvaratskhelia's sixth to Osimhen in Serie A this season, making them the most in-tune duo in the league, with no player assisting a teammate more than the Georgian has assisted the Nigerian. 

It was also Kvaratskhelia's ninth assist in Serie A this season, making him the leading assist maker in the league. 

Napoli held on for all three points and a rare clean sheet that is sure to excite Luciano Spaletti as they ran out 3-0 winners. 

Napoli running away with the title

With the league’s highest goalscorer and highest assist maker, Napoli’s firepower has been too much for virtually everyone in the league this season. 

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They now lead their nearest rival, Inter by 16 points even though Inter still have a game in hand. The fact that Inter’s game in hand is the Milan derby against last season’s Champions AC Milan means that there is a good chance of that lead staying intact. 

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