Nigerian super star, Victor Osimhen grabbed the winning goal last night as Napoli defeated Braga 2-0 to qualify for the Champions League knockout stage.
Osimhen, who was in Morocco on Monday where he was crowned African Footballer of the Year, returned to score for Napoli.
An own goal in the early stage of the match gave Napoli 1-0. Serdar Saatci, attempting to intercept an offensive pass, scored an own goal.
Past midway in the first half, Piotr Zielinski received a precise pass and was given time inside the box to send a promising strike towards the bottom left corner. Matheus guessed his intention and denied him with a fine save.
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Two minutes after that, Osimhen scored the second goal for Napoli. Natan rounded the goalkeeper and sent a pass to Osimhen, who had an easy finish to put it into an empty net.
Midway into the second half, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran onto a pass deep into the box and unleashed a low drive to the left side of the net. The keeper made a superb save and pushed the ball against the post.
In the 80th minute, Ricardo Horta blew a good opportunity to score. Without any hesitation, he fired in a shot from mid-range, but the ball crashed against the right post.
Recall that Osimhen as well as Super Falcons forward Asisat Oshoala were big winners at the 2023 CAF Awards, as they swept the men and women’s player of the year awards for Nigeria at the Palais des Congrès in Marrakech, Morocco.
Africa Today News, New York can confirm that this is the first time one country will produce winners of both awards.
Osimhen was named the winner of the CAF Player of The Year Award, becoming the first Nigerian to win the award since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999, just as Oshoala claimed a record-extending sixth Women’s Player of The Year as the most successful women’s player in Africa.