Victor Osimhen: Key stats from Napoli frontman against Leicester

Victor Osimhen’s brace in Napoli’s comeback 2–2 draw helped to maintain his club’s unbeaten start to the new 2021/22 season.

Having fallen 2–0 behind in their Group C Europa League encounter on Thursday, the Super Eagle didn’t let his head drop and produced two strikes of the highest quality to secure a deserved point for Luciano Spalletti’s men.

Aside from scoring twice at the King Power Stadium, the following stats stood out.

Expected Goals (xG): The Nigerian had an xG of 0.7 from six shots. The fact he scored two times was quite impressive.

Expected Assists (xA): Napoli’s top striker fashioned a big chance against Leicester and his xA of 0.3 suggested he was unlucky not to assist as well on Thursday.

Shot-creating actions: Osimhen was involved in seven SCAs (defined as shots, passes or dribbles leading directly to a shot) in 90 minutes, higher than everyone else on the pitch.

Dribbles: The young forward completed four dribbles from as many attempts. His quartet of dribbles completed also outdid everyone else on the pitch.

Progressive passes received: Osimhen incredibly received a staggering 12 progressive passes throughout 90 minutes, eight more than the next highest on his team and seven higher than Kelechi Iheanacho.

In addition to scoring a brace, the Napoli marksman’s underlying numbers were incredible as well and he thoroughly deserved his second-half goals.

After opening his account for the season, the 22-year-old has vowed to do even more for the Partenopei this season.

“I’m happy and we played as a team, even when we went two goals down, we kept playing as a team,” Osimhen said as quoted by Sky Sport Italia.

“I don’t want to set an objective. The club always believed in me, starting with these two goals is certainly important and I want to continue like this.”

“I have everything to give to Napoli, I want to stay healthy, avoid injuries and one step at a time we can together achieve our targets.”

Napoli face Udinese on Monday night and, after scoring his first pair of goals this term, you wouldn’t want to bet against Osimhen punishing the Udine outfit in gameweek four.

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Seye Omidiora is a passionate football writer and pundit whose deep appreciation for the beautiful game exceeds the usual. He is currently a columnist for Goal Africa and has previously written for Vital Football UK, IBCity Info and Opera News.

Follow him on Twitter @theReal_SeyE

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