Osimhen ends drought, scores 12th goal of season

Osimhen ends drought, scores 12th goal of season with towering header

Nigerian striker, Victor Osimhen ended his goal drought after five matches with a towering header as Napoli came from behind to beat Monza away from home on Sunday.

It was all going wrong for Napoli in Monza until the Nigerian sparked a turnaround, with Politano’s ferocious volley, a Piotr Zielinski screamer off the underside of the bar and Giacomo Raspadori tap-in to win 4-2.

It took just nine minutes for the hosts to break the deadlock, as Alessio Zerbin – who is on loan from Napoli – whipped in a cross from the left for Milan Djuric to hold off Juan Jesus and nod in from six yards.

Giovanni Di Lorenzo fired over from close range after a corner pinballed around, while Ngonge had his shot charged down after dribbling into the box.

Monza lost Dany Mota Carvalho to a sprained ankle and Ngonge had penalty appeals waved away for Zerbin’s rather clumsy tackle at the back post.

Napoli had a huge opportunity on 40 minutes when Michele Di Gregorio mis-controlled a back-pass, just about getting his toes to the ball before Osimhen, then made the save on Kvaratskhelia’s follow-up.

Djuric acted as a defender to prevent Osimhen tapping in the Amir Rrahmani knockdown on a corner and after the restart Ngonge had the ball in the net with an angled drive, but had wandered offside.

Napoli finally did equalise when Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa floated in a cross from the right and Osimhen launched himself into the sky for the most towering of headers. It was almost too towering, as he landed on his face and cut his lip, but was able to shake it off.

Moments later, the game had been turned around completely in simply stunning fashion. The ball was deflected to the edge of the area, where substitute Politano hit a stunning left-foot volley into the far top corner.

The Partenopei seemed to be reborn, as they then surged into a 3-1 lead when Kvaratskhelia laid it off outside the box for Piotr Zielinski’s rocket in off the underside of the crossbar, giving Di Gregorio no chance.

Monza wasn’t giving up either, as Andrea Colpani cut inside and bent a left-foot finish into the far top corner with the aid of a slight deflection.

It was very nearly 4-2 moments after that, as Di Gregorio rushed off his line to deny Osimhen after Anguissa knocked down a long ball wrestling with Warren Bondo.

However, Giacomo Raspadori came off the bench and scored with his first touch, pouncing on the rebound after Di Gregorio had parried the Di Lorenzo angled drive. It gave the match five goals in the space of 13 minutes.