August 23, (THEWILL) – There was an unfortunate start to the Serie A season for Nigeria’s Super Eagles forward Victor Osimhen after he was sent off in Napoli’s opener, for violent conduct. Although the Azzurri later won the tie 2-0, Osimhen’s straight red card marked him as being the first to be sent off just as Italian football finally got underway this weekend.
Fortunately, Osimhen’s 23rd minute dismissal did not prevent Lucian Spalletti’s charges from making up for the numerical deficit as goals from Lorenzo Insigne and Eljif Elmas and heroic defending especially by Kalidou Koulibaly and Mario Rui saved the day.
Before the red card incident, Osimhen had shown some of the spectacular form that kept him firing on all cylinders during the pre-season where he found the net seven times including two in Napoli’s 3-0 defeat of Bavarian giants Bayern Munich in their July 31 friendly.
Osimhen was already challenging and causing some disturbance in the Venezia goal area as early as the 3rd minute when he won a free-kick in the attacking half of the visitors. By the 8th minute, he had registered an unsuccessful shot at goal and he almost turned in a Piotr Zielinski but for the Venezia keeper.
That was all before the 23rd minute encounter when referee Gianluca Aureliano flashed Osimhen with a red card for violent conduct on Daan Heymans during a corner-kick situation. It seemed to worsen for Napoli minutes after as Zielinski had to be taken off injured to complete Napoli’s distressing half.
But Spalletti marshalled his charges to mount a second half push that helped to rescue victory from the very jaws of defeat even with their numerical disadvantage. Such was the game plan they began the second half with that it did not seem that Napoli was short-staffed.
Venezia were bent on making their numbers count and their centre forward Francesco Forte was a threat throughout, whether on the ball, providing an assist or distributing it around the pitch. He created a big chance in the second half and had two shots at goal himself but could not find the net.
Napoli’s day seemed to improve when Aureliano awarded them a penalty three minutes before the hour mark after Venezia’s Mattia Caldara handled the ball in the area but Insigne missed the top corner with his spot-kick and the chance was lost. However, the player had an opportunity to redeem himself.
On the stroke of the hour mark, another hand ball, this time by Pietro Ceccaroni, led to another penalty award. It was a more composed finish by Insigne as he buried the ball in the left corner to break the deadlock.
One goal soon became two when Zielinski’s replacement, Elmas, fired in from about the centre of the box to double the lead for Napoli in the 71st minute. All the attempts of Paolo Zanetti’s side to find a way back into the game proved abortive giving Spalletti his first League victory as manager.
In a sad note, Osimhen will have to sit out the team’s next two Serie A matches, first on August 29, away at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris against Genoa and at home when they welcome Serie A giants Juventus to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on September 11.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
