VICTOR Osimhen was once again Napoli’s star man tonight as they ran riot and smashed Juventus 5-1 in a top-of-the-table Serie A clash at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
The Super Eagles striker was involved in three of Napoli’s goals, scoring two and assisting another as they opened up a 10-point gap at the top of the table.
Osimhen, who is the top scorer in Serie A at the moment, got Napoli on their way with the opening goal in the 14th minute, heading home after a shot was pushed into his path.
The Nigeria international was the architect of the second goal in the 39th minute, laying it on a plate from inside the Juventus box for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to sidefoot beyond goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
Juventus, who are second in the Serie A standings and were on a hot seven-match winning streak, pulled one back with a fine Angel Di Maria finish with four minutes left in the first half to raise hopes of a comeback.
Napoli came into the second half determined not to let their advantage slip and they turned on the style, scoring three unreplied goals.
Amir Rrahmani slammed his shot into the net through a crowd of bodies from a corner kick Osimhen had won in the 55th minute to restore the two-goal cushion.
Osimhen then scored with a brilliant header 10 minutes later to take his Serie A tally for the season to 12 goals, with no other player in the league reaching double figures yet.
Napoli pur the cherry on top of a spectacular performance with substitute Elif Elmas rounding off a fluid team move with the fifth goal in the 72nd minute.
Remarkably, Juventus had kept clean sheets in eight consecutive games coming into tonight’s fixture, and had conceded just seven in their first 17 Serie A games of the season.
In Spain also tonight, Super Eagles forward Samuel Chukwueze assisted Villarreal’s only goal in their 1-1 La Liga draw at Celta Vigo.
It was Chukwueze’s second assist in 16 La Liga appearances this season, as he started and lasted 45 minutes in tonight’s encounter.
