Victor Osimhen rose the highest: A sign of things to come?

The Nigeria superstar scored a brace that helped bring Napoli back from the brink against Leicester City on Thursday and the young forward will have an in-form Udinese in his sights.

Victor Osimhen rose the highest in the box when he contested the header that earned Napoli a draw against a dangerous Leicester City team at the King Power’s stadium on Thursday.

The Napoli frontman was dangerous all night as he posed a constant threat that occupied the Foxes’ centre-back pairing.

They could not get a handle on him as he fired past a hapless Kasper Schmeichel twice in the last twenty minutes of the game. The Nigeria forward has not had the best time since he joined the Partenopei at the beginning of last season.

His contributions in the Europa League on Thursday night however represent some of his best work with the way he single-handedly pulled his team back into the game after a brilliant start by Leicester City had seen them go two goals in front on the night.

The first of his two goals was a well-taken strike that he lofted above the onrushing Schmeichel after a good spell of play from the visitors in the 70th minute. He continued to toil alongside his teammates before he delivered a glorious second from a well-placed header that helped his team pull level and earn an important point.

The hefty price tag that brought the former Lille forward to Naples seemed to have him under constant scrutiny in Italy. The club’s fans have been expecting more influential performances from the potent goalscorer whose reputation with Lille was only supposed to be the tip of the iceberg of his budding talent.

His disciplinary issues also raised a few concerns among the Napoli faithful. However, the 22-year-old’s big performance would not have done his relationship with the fans any harm with plaudits pouring his way after the match.

Luciano Spalletti’s opposite number on the day, Brendan Rodgers, could not help but rave about Osimhen’s showing.

Speaking after the game, Leicester’s manager talked about the quality of the former Lille man.

“We had some players getting their first 90 minutes of the season as well, and then obviously, their big striker (Victor Osimhen), who’s £70-odd-million, so you can see his quality, and he gets his two goals,” Rodgers told LCFC TV.

The Napoli forward will be looking to continue this fine form for his team with the team’s upcoming Serie A fixture against Udinese coming at the right time.

The side Spalletti’s team visit were one of six unbeaten sides going into the gameweek, so the encounter in Udine won’t be as straightforward as believed.

Admittedly, the hosts haven’t fared well against Monday’s visitors in recent meetings, falling to nine defeats in their last 10 Serie A matches. With the concession of 2.7 goals per game in this period, Osimhen will be licking his lips before kick-off.

Four of those games have been at Dacia Arena, further highlighting the one-sidedness of this fixture in recent years.

While the White and Blacks could match a club record by going unbeaten in their opening four games in Serie A — equalling an achievement from 2014/15 under Andrea Stramaccioni and initially 2000/01 under Luigi De Canio — it’d be a huge task against Napoli on Monday.

Osimhen asserted there’s more to come from him after Thursday’s game at the King Power Stadium and he faces a team that has let in only twice in three games.

“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,” Osimhen continued.

Hopefully, he can kick on from here and deliver 70 million worth of joy to followers of the Azzurri to set their hearts alight again.

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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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