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Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen continues his impressive form as Napoli open 11-point gap at the top of Serie A
Victor Osimhen scored his ninth league goal of the Serie A campaign with a powerful header in the 15th minute of Napoli’s final league game before the World Cup break.
Osimhen rose highest in the box to turn in an inch-perfect cross from Eljif Elmas to give Napoli an early lead, and they never looked back.
Udinese’s defense could not cope with the Nigerian forward who scored in four of his last five Serie A games. He has now scored six goals and laid on an assist in those five games.
Form like that deserves to be at the World Cup, but Osimhen will not be there after Nigeria failed to get past Ghana in the qualifiers.
Instead, Osimhen can look forward to a relaxing mid-season break which should keep him in great shape when the second half of the season starts as Napoli march on in their title charge.
Napoli's Title Charge
Napoli are currently 11 points clear of their nearest challengers, Lazio, although they have played a game more than the Roman club.
They had too much for Udinese in the end, and ran out 3-2 winners despite a late surge from their opponents.
Napoli raced into a 3-0 lead with goals from Osimhen, Piotr Zielinski, and Elmas, who assisted Osimhen’s opening goal, and held on despite a late comeback attempt from Udinese with late goals from Ilija Nestorovski and Lazar Samardzic.
Europe's most in-form side, Napoli, have now won their 11th consecutive Serie A match, and have been victorious in 16 of their last 17 fixtures in all competitions. Only failing to beat Liverpool in a dead rubber Champions League game.
If they continue this form, who is to say we won't have our first Nigerian Serie A champion since 2006 when Obafemi Martins won the title with Inter come May?
Other Africans involved
Napoli also had in their ranks Cameroonian Andre Frank Zambo-Anguissa, who had an impressive game, with his assist for Elmas’ goal the cherry on top of a solid performance.
On the losing side, Udinese started the game with a Nigerian-Cameroonian duo in Kingsley Ehibueze and Enzo Ebosse. Another Nigerian, Isaac Success came off the Udinese bench and assisted the goal that sparked off their attempted comeback, but all their efforts were not enough to stop Napoli from picking up another win.
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