Victor Osimhen offered the fans the Ballon d’Or that crowned him the best African footballer of the year on Monday and he was once again decisive, with a goal and a fantastic assist in Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, for Naples to beat an energetic and patient Cagliari (2-1). The group of Walter Mazzarri He temporarily returned to the Serie A Champions League positions after two successive defeats against Inter and Juventus.
Napoli came out determined to unbalance the match quickly and in the first half they showed good football, creating a lot of danger, constantly looking for spaces and reaching the area clearly even without success in the end to achieve great opportunity.
Rrahmani, in the post and the goal is resisting
The clearest of this first period came on the half hour mark with a header from the central defender Amir Rrahmani in post then center Matteo Politano.
Cagliari fought their best defensively, sometimes playing to the limit, hence the friction between the players. However, when he deviated from his plan, the team Claudio Ranieri He threatened several arrivals where he seemed to attack. After the break, Napoli still couldn’t find a way to score a goal and struggled to create chances against a tough opponent who knew how to counter them.
These were the worst moments of the Serie A champions but then Osimhen appeared to take responsibility again. The Nigerian opened the scoring with a powerful header a cross from the recently entered Mario Rui from the left. Simone Scuffet He deflects the shot from the center but the ball hits the post and slips (69′).
It was Osimhen’s first league goal in two months after his muscle injury (he previously scored six) although on Tuesday in the Champions League he also scored against Braga (2-0).
Exchange punches
Napoli broke the deadlock but stunned Cagliari three minutes later with an equalizing goal. Zito Luvumbo, who had just jumped onto the field, came in from the left and his cross from the baseline pushed him over Leonardo Pavoletti35 years old, waiting for John Jesus.
None of them gave up and fought an electrifying final battle. Three minutes later, in the 75th minute, Kvaratskhelia decided after Osimhen delivered the goal to him on a plate in a superb play individual. The Nigerian received with his back, he left several rivals by force after controlling the ball with several touches on his thigh without letting it fall and from the baseline he crossed back for the Georgian to make it 2-1 before the ecstasy of the Stadio Diego Maradona .
match lineup
1
22
3
68
13
5
99
24
9
twenty-one
77
22
8
27
16
3
4
19
29
32
30
twenty-one
Diego Armando Maradona
Simone Scuffet22
Nahitan Nandez8
66′
58′
Tommaso Augello27
62′
Matteo Prati16
48′
Edoardo Goldaniga3
46′
78′
Alberto Dossena4
90′
Gaetano Oristanio19
67′
58′
Antoine Makoumbou29
44′
68′
81′
Andrea Petagna32
Four. five’
87′
89′
Leonardo Pavoletti30
46′
71′
74′
89′
Jakub Janktotwenty-one
Four. five’
Replacements
Boris Radunovic1
Simone Aresti18
58′
84′
Pantelis Hatzidiakos17
Mateusz Wieteska23
89′
Gabriele Zappa28
66′
Adam Obert33
Four. five’
89′
Paulo Azzi37
81′
Alessandro Di Pardo99
Marco Mancosu5
Nicholas Viola10
58′
Alessandro Deiola14
Four. five’
Ibrahim Sulemana25
Gianluca Lapadula9
78′
Gaston Pereirotwenty
Zito Luvumbo77
67′
coach
Walter Mazzarri
Claudio Ranieri
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
