By Victor Kanayo
Nigerian international, Victor Osimhen, scored his first league hat-trick for Seria A league leaders Napoli, in a 4-0 thrashing of Sassuolo decided on Saturday October 29, 2022.
The 23-year-old forward played the entire game at the Estadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples as Napoli moved six points clear of current Champions AC Milan.
Osimhen put his name on the scoresheet just four minutes after the kick-off, controlling Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s headed cross and poking home from close range as Napoli took an early lead.
He then doubled his tally and Napoli’s advantage as he once again met with a delightful cut back from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia before putting the ball through the legs of Sassuolo’s goalkeeper Alex Meret 15 minutes later.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who was the provider for Osimhen’s brace, scored his first and Napoli’s third of the afternoon eight minutes before the break.
The Nigerian star player then wrapped up the scoring for Napoli in the 77th minute to record an emphatic victory for the blues as they stretched their winning streak to 13 games in all competitions.
Having scored three goals, Osimhen is now the league’s leading scorer despite being sidelined by injury earlier in the season.
Only twice in his professional career has he scored three or more goals, the other time being Nigeria’s 10-0 victory against Sao Tome and Principe in the 2023 AFCON qualifiers, which he also scored four goals in.
The Nigerian International, has now scored seven goals in his last seven starts for the club and six goals in four games since returning from injury early this month.
