What would Napoli do without Victor Osimhen? Well, they would probably struggle a lot. The Nigerian scored in each half of his team’s Serie A game at Hellas Verona to secure the points. Verona did manage to score late through Faraoni and make it a nervous ending, but Napoli held tight to claim the win.Osimhen made the most out of some good work from Matteo Politano and his cross from the right to nip in and finish past Lorenzo Montipo to give the Neapolitans the lead 20 minutes in.Incredible finish from Victor Osimhen 🔥🔥The cross from Matteo Politano was brilliant. Perfectly placed. pic.twitter.com/nNlHYce8uw— Jerry Mancini (@jmancini8) March 13, 2022 There is a long-standing rivalry between these two clubs and the Hellas fans made sure they show it. Ahead of the game, they produced a banner that suggested the Russian army to fire their missiles at Naples instead of Ukraine. Italian football fans. They are special – for better or worse. On the pitch of Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi however, their team wasn’t quite so creative.Napoli playmaker Fabian Ruiz had two good chances in the first half to put the game beyond doubt, but the Veronese, led by their Croatian coach and former Juventus midfielder Igor Tudor, managed to stay in the game.
Verona kept it an even game but were struggling to create any clear-cut chances against Serie A’s meanest defence. In the 28 games Napoli have played so far, they’ve only conceded 20 goals – and they were determined to improve their record today.Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli waited patiently for another chance to deal the decisive blow to their hosts and they got it 20 minutes before the end. Giovanni Di Lorenzo delivered another low cross into the area and once again it was Osimhen who was at the right spot in the right moment to sweep home. Napoli were cruising to another win.However, Verona weren’t ready to give up the fight and they kept knocking on the door until they got their reward. Matteo Faraoni headed in to half the deficit on 77 minutes and get his team back in the game.
Napoli did manage to shore up their defence and preserve the lead despite desperate waves of Veronese attacks. It’s all much easier with a rampant striker in your ranks.SERIE A – ROUND 29SaturdaySpezia – Cagliari 2-0 (0-0)/Erlic 55, Manaj 74/Salernitana – Sassuolo 2-2 (1-2)/Bonazzoli 8, Djuric 81 – Scamacca 20, Traore 30/Sampdoria – Juventus 1-3 (0-2)/Yoshida 23 og, Morata 34 pen, 88 – Morata 84 og/Milan – Empoli 1-0 (1-0)/Kalulu 19/SundayFiorentina – Bologna 1-0 (0-0)/Torreira 70/Verona – Napoli 2-1 (1-0)/Faraoni 77 – Osimhen 14, 71/20:00: (1.35) Atalanta (4.90) Genoa (9.50)20:00: (3.35) Udinese (3.20) Roma (2.25)22:45: (5.20) Torino (3.70) Inter (1.70)Monday22:45: (1.33) Lazio (5.20) Venezia (9.00)*** odds are subject to change***