Osimhen strikes late to keep Napoli’s 100% record intact

Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen scored a late winner to secure a 1-0 win over Torino and maintain Napoli’s 100% record in the Serie A this season, returning them to the top of the Italian Serie A.

Napoli came into the match on the back of seven successive wins in the Italian Serie A but found themselves needing to avoid defeat to return to the top of the table after AC Milan secured a comeback win over Hellas Verona.

Red-hot striker Osimhen was back to Napoli after his goalscoring contribution on international duty with Nigeria, and was quick to register his intent as he brought down an aerial ball before smartly shooting from 25 yards and forcing a good stop from the Torino goalkeeper in the opening minutes of the match.

Napoli were soon awarded a penalty when Ben Kone rashly brought down Napoli defender Giovanni Di Lorenzo in the box. Napoli captain Lorenzo Insigne stepped up and struck a weak penalty too close to Vanja Milinkovic-Savic in the Torino goal.

With Napoli’s 100% record at stake, Torino missed good chances to go ahead as Croatian midfielder Josip Brekalo fluffed his lines twice when well-placed.

Napoli thought they had gone ahead after Di Lorenzo headed in a freekick from Mario Rui, but the goal was ruled out for offside by the VAR in the 56th minute.

With the clock ticking down, the most expensive African footballer ever struck to bring down the roof in the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. The striker has eight goals in nine matches for the Partenopei this season.

After some slick interplay between Osimhen, Kalidou Koulibaly and Dries Mertens, Osimhen leapt highest to power home a header in the 81st minute after an attempted clearance ricocheted off Eljif Elmas.

Osimhen’s late strike saw Napoli’s 100% record preserved, making them the only side in Europe’s Top 20 leagues to win all of their league matches so far in the 2021/22 season. Osimhen’s Nigerian teammate Ola Aina was also in action for Torino the entire time.

Napoli have returned to the top of the Serie A, and their return of 24 points from eight matches represents their best ever start to a season. They will face AS Roma next in the league.