NAPOLI manager Luciano Spalletti has praised Victor Osimhen for his impact on the side’s impressive season, especially his contributions to last night’s stunning 5-1 Serie A win over Juventus.
The Super Eagles striker scored twice and assisted one goal in a classic centre forward display to take his tally to 12 Serie A goals this season as Napoli opened up a 10-point gap at the top of the table.
The Stadio Diego Armando Maradona beatdown was the first time since 1993 that Juventus have conceded five goals in a Serie A match, and Spalletti singled out Osimhen while also commending the whole team.
“It’s a wonderful night because the team played really well and kept the tempo high, which is what we need to do, and above all the crowd provided a great atmosphere,” Spalletti told DAZN.
“This team knew how to recreate the sense of love the fans have towards the club and played in the right way today, so if they do what is within their capabilities, they can play the way they did tonight.
“We stayed in the game in the right way after Juve scored and the fans helped us to deal with that moment when Juventus reacted strongly, creating some problems including that Di Maria goal.
“If we try to go into these duels, the way we did on the goal, we will lose them most of the time, because it’s just not in our nature, those are not our characteristics. So we need to play the ball. Our DNA is to play like this.”
The fourth goal was created when Mario Rui pressed Gleison Bremer at the touchline to win back the ball, allowing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to set up Osimhen’s header.
“Kim and Rrahmani have no fear of playing with 30-40 metres of space behind them and sometimes we do have to chase down long balls over the top, but our basic attitude is this. The moment we lose the ball, we have to press them and get it back straight away.
“Osimhen is such a great striker. I am stunned by the unexpressed potential he has and excited to see what he’ll do in future.
“There were these two or three balls down the touchline and he has the pace, the skill, the courage and physicality to deal with those situations.
“After all, he smashed his face a couple of times because he goes for every ball. He still has remarkable room for improvement.”
Osimhen is the top scorer in Serie A at the moment and he is leading Napoli’s charge for their first Serie A title since 1990, when the legendary Diego Maradona led them to glory.
