Osimhen emulates Cristiano Ronaldo as Napoli defeat Empoli

Victor Osimhen continued his incredible goalscoring form as he scored for Napoli in their 2-0 Serie A win over Empoli. The 24-year-old striker equalled Cristiano Ronaldo’s goalscoring record in the league by scoring for an eighth consecutive match.

Having scored in seven consecutive league matches to help Napoli open up an unassailable 15-point lead atop the Serie A standings, Victor Osimhen scored his 20th goal of the season in the UEFA Champions League win over Eintracht Frankfurt in midweek. The striker remains his side’s ultimate weapon as they seek a first Scudetto since 1990 and he showed why against Empoli.

Napoli took the lead after 17 minutes in fortuitous circumstances as Ardian Ismajli put the ball past his own goalkeeper unfortunately. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia played a ball over the top to Piotr Zielinski, who put a low cross into the danger area. His cross was inadvertently diverted into his own goal by Albanian defender Ismajli, handing Napoli the advantage.

Now fully in the ascendancy, Napoli controlled the game and were rewarded with a second goal just before the half-hour mark. A short corner was worked to Kvaratskhelia at the edge of the box, and the 21-year-old let fly an effort which was parried by the Empoli goalkeeper into the path of Osimhen, who reacted quickest to stab home from close range, scoring his 19th Serie A goal of the season.

The Super Eagles striker has become the first player since Cristiano Ronaldo to score in eight consecutive Serie A matches, and the second youngest player in the history of the league to score in eight consecutive matches.

Osimhen scored a second in the 60th minute but saw his effort ruled out for offside before Mario Rui was shown a straight red card for violent conduct seven minutes later.

Napoli held on despite being a man short to claim all three points and open up an 18-point gap over Inter Milan.