Victor Osimhen missed a penalty which was not enough to stop Napoli from thrashing Liverpool 4-1 in Group A Champions League clash on Wednesday.
Osimhen missed his spot kick in the 18th minute before he was replaced on 41 minutes due to knock.
Piotr Zielinski put Napoli ahead from the spot in the fifth minute after Victor Osimhen had hit the post.
Andre-Frank Anguissa and Giovanni Simeone extended Napoli’s lead, before Zielinski scored again after the break.
It was a terrible opening half from Liverpool as Joe Gomez struggled to deal with Osimhen and was relieved when the Napoli forward trudged off with an injury before half-time.
His replacement, Simeone, needed just three minutes to score on his Champions League debut as Liverpool looked shell-shocked by the home side’s relentless forward approach.
There were chances for the visitors – Van Dijk had a header well saved, Mohamed Salah struck an effort at the goalkeeper and a teasing cross bounced dangerously off Harvey Elliott’s knee at the back post.
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But Liverpool were sloppy in possession – even Salah mis-controlled a good pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold when well-placed in the box – and their defensive mistakes were punished by an expressive Napoli side.
Any hope of a second-half comeback were over when Zielinski chipped a finish over Alisson from close range to make it 4-0 and though Luis Diaz curled in for an immediate response and came close with a diving header, Liverpool were deservedly beaten.
In Group B Club Brugge got their campaign off to a perfect start with a 1-0 win against Leverkusen with Raphael Onyedika in action.
The former Midtjylland star was replaced with seven minutes left to play.
Also on Group B, Zaidu Sanusi featured but was on the losing side in Porto’s 2-1 loss at Atletico Madrid.
At the Nou Camp Robert Lewandowski marked his Champions League debut with Barcelona with a hat-trick as the Catalans hammered Viktoria Plzen 5-1.
In other results Bayern Munich beat Inter 2-0, Tottenham Hotspur beat Marseille 2-0 and Sporting Lisbon overcame Frankfurt 3-0 away.
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COMMENTS
Osimhen is lucky to have the Cameroonian Anguissa in midfield because he – unlike others, supplied Osimhen with passes in this match. Unfortunately, Osimhen was not clinical, making some wrong decisions like shooting from a tight angle instead of passing, but if Anguissa keeps his place in the team, Osimhen would be well-supplied with passes and become devastatingly dangerous.
That would make Napoli title contenders.
Besides the missed penalty, Osimhen was almost unplayable. Van Dyke and Gomez will have nightmares tonight because of what he did to them. They simply could not cope with him.
He played for only about 40 mins, did not even finish the first half. But in that time, he completely destroyed the Liverpool defense. They must have been glad to see him leave the pitch.
What he needs to add to his game is clinical finishing. He does score goals, but his conversion rate could be better.
If he can bring back his calmness from under 17 and Charleroi, man would be certified world class
You are right bro. He has everything to become a certified world class, but need to start watching Lewandoski calmness and positioning to attain the class he belongs. Lewandoski is like a Cobra whose favorite food will meet him where he stays, that’s the work of calmness and positioning.
He had a huge impact on the game for the short duration that he was on, the future is indeed bright for him, just that it was really painful that he lost that penalty but that could have happened to any player. May Favour smile on you Osimhen!!