By Kenneth Labaran
365Daily – Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen has become the second Napoli player to score in three straight games in a European competition in the 21st century after Dries Mertens.
Osimhen scored Napoli’s second goal in their 3-0 thrashing of Legia Warsaw in a Uefa Europa League game on Thursday.
The 22-year-old started the encounter on the bench and he was introduced for Hirving Lozano, just before the hour-mark.
The two teams were tied for the majority of the game but Lorenzo Insigne broke the deadlock for Napoli in the 76th minute and his Nigerian teammate doubled the lead four minutes later.
Another substitute, Kostas Manolas, also registered his name on the scoresheet, five minutes into stoppage time.
Osimhen has now scored four goals in three Europa League matches this campaign and he also has a tally of five goals after seven league appearances for the Serie A leaders.
Goal.com reports that the former Lille talisman is the second-highest scoring player in the Europa League this season alongside Leicester City’s Patson Daka, who scored four goals in a game, after Cameroon’s Karl Toko Ekambi, who has five goals for Lyon so far.
Senegal defender and captain Kalidou Koulibaly produced a solid defensive performance that helped the Parthenopeans keep a clean sheet and grab their first group win.
The Serie A leaders surged to the summit of Group C with four points after three matches but Legia Warsaw remain unmoved at the top of the table, despite the loss.
At the end of the match, Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti urged his players to maintain the level of performance they showed at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
“Forward we have talented players and we know that the goal can always come,” Spalletti told the club’s website. “But we must always keep balance during the game so that we can then have the possibility of looking for success until the end.
“The intelligence of my men is fundamental. When a player plays for others, he knows that he himself can benefit. This group had a desire for redemption after last year and is proving its worth.
“We are all playing for the same goal and we want to lead the way in Europe. We need to win the next few races to be able to aim for first place in the group.