Osimhen: Injury blow for Napoli striker against Liverpool in Champions League
Victor Osimhen was forced off with an injury in the first half of Wednesday’s Champions League fixture between Napoli and Liverpool.
With five minutes left before the half time break at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, the Nigeria international was replaced by Giovanni Simeone.
Our first change
— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) September 7, 2022
↩️ @victorosimhen9
↪️ @simeonegiovanni
41 | #NapoliLiverpool | 2-0
💙 #ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/Sl7hx01Bkm
Prior to his injury setback, Osimhen had missed a penalty in the 18th minute as his kick was saved by goalkeeper Allison Becker after he was brought down in the box by Virgil van Dijk.
The former Lille player was a major doubt against the Premier League side, nonetheless, he was named in Luciano Spalletti’s starting XI – shouldering goalscoring responsibilities – while relying on support from Matteo Politano, Piotr Zielinski, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Napoli got off to a flying start by taking a fifth-minute lead through Piotr Zielinski – who drilled an unstoppable shot past goalkeeper Allison from the penalty mark after James Milner handled the ball in the danger zone.
Cameroon international Andre Zambo Anguissa doubled the advantage on the hour mark having been set up by Zielinski.
Notwithstanding Osimhen’s absence, the Italian top-flight side made it three minutes before the end of the half as Simeone made good use of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s pass.
In what happened to be an embarrassing night for the English top-flight side, they leaked their fourth goal two minutes into the second half as Zielinski completed his double.
Liverpool reduced their deficit in the 49th minute thanks to Luis Diaz’s strike.
As of the time of this report, Napoli have not stated the nature of Osimhen’s injury and the number of days he will spend on the sidelines.
Even with this result, the Italians are second in Group A with the Dutch elite division side leading the log with superior goals difference.
Unbeaten in their last 16 matches in all competitions, Spalletti’s men face Spezia in Saturday’s league outing before an away fixture against Scottish Premiership side Rangers.
The Reds – who are now unbeaten in their last two Premier League matches, will hope to return to winning ways against Wolverhampton Wanderers in England before hosting Ajax on September 13.