Victor Osimhen was sent off as Napoli suffered another defeat, this time to a 2-0 loss at AS Roma in the Serie A on Saturday.
For Osimhen it was not the best way to celebrate a new deal after extending his stay at the league champions till 2026.
Napoli were hoping it bounce back from the shocking 4-0 to Frosinone in the Coppa Italia on Tuesday.
But Lorenzo Pellegrini and Romelu Lukaku scored for Jose Mourinho’s men.
The defeat leaves Napoli in seventh place in the table on 27 points.
It was an incredibly niggly game with endless fouls and protests, so it was perhaps no surprise a red card was flashed after 66 minutes to Napoli’s Matteo Politano.
The Napoli star was dragged back by the jersey by Nicola Zalewski, who was booked, but then had a little kick out at the Roma man on his way down and received a straight red card.
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Roma capitalised on the sending off and went 1-0 up on 76 minutes.
Sardar Azmoun and Stephan El Shaarawy attempts were charged down until Pellegrini let it bounce and scored with a half-volley on the turn from 12 yards.
It got even worse for Napoli, as Osimhen was sent off in the 87th minute for a second bookable offence.
Napoli effectively were down to eight in stoppages when their Brazilian star Natan hurt his shoulder.
With that situation and Napoli pouring forward, Roma added a second on the counter-attack in the 96th minute when Lukaku combined with Evan Ndicka to score.
5 Comments
Bad for Napoli, but good for Nigeria and Osimhen. So he doesn’t hurt himself and miss the AFCON.
Mazzarri should have rested the African footballer of the year. Like over working him. Good luck Napoli, next time
This is his last game for this year for his club.. with the red card he would miss their next game, so I don’t see why he should not be released for the Afcon camp.. oshimen needs the Afcon so he can regain his sharpness for his club
Good news for Nigeria. At least, we will have him for AFCON this time. His absence last time out hurt us badly.
Blessing for Nigeria!