Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman, two Super Eagles players clashed as Napoli squared off against Atalanta on Saturday afternoon.
A pair of defensive errors from Napoli gifted visitors Atalanta a 3-0 win in the Serie A on Saturday as La Dea beat the Partenopei for the first time since December 2021.
With the win, Atalanta have now opened up a five-point gap over their European chasing rivals who have now dropped to sixth place. Gian Piero Gasperini’s side also found a balance between defence and attack in the game to earn their first league win since mid-February.
Napoli saw plenty of the ball but almost conceded an early goal after three minutes when Mario Pašalić’s pass found Aleksei Miranchuk, whose low strike beat Alex Meret before hitting the post.
Moments later, Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen came close to scoring his first goal at home since February when he got to the end of Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s cross with a header that drew a big save from Atalanta’s goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi.
Napoli defensive struggles continues
Napoli's familiar defensive issues were reflected again in the tie and it means that the Naples team are yet to keep a clean sheet in 10 matches.
The goalkeeper Meret was at first in the first half when he failed to claim an aerial ball across goal, allowing Pašalić to cut back to Miranchuk who wasted no time in finishing the move to register his third Serie A goal of the season.
The away side came knocking for another goal almost immediately, and were rewarded when another defensive error from Juan Jesus gifted the ball to Miranchuk. The Russian playmaker found Gianluca Scamacca who finished the move with a strike into the bottom corner.
Piotr Zieliński was one of the two players that came on at the restart as Francesco Calzona made two changes with the hopes of a comeback in sight. Zielinski could have become an instant impact but his volley from a tight angle came off the post.
Asides the unconvincing defending, the home team also struggled to take their chances. In the 88th minute, Teun Koopmeiners finished off a sweeping counter attack after driving his strike past Meret into the bottom corner.
Osimhen frustrations, Ademola delight
Current African Footballer of the Year, Osimhen, who was booked in the first half for unsportsmanlike conduct, he also missed two crucial chances late on.
Osimhen, who was not in the squad when Nigeria played in the international friendlies last week against Ghana and Mali has failed to find the back of the net for the Partenopei since the end of February when he bagged a hattrick against Sassuolo in the league.
Another Nigerian, Ademola Lookman, who was recently on international duty with Nigeria and scored a goal against Ghana just over a week ago came on for Atalanta in the 61st minute of the second half, and his team still had time to punish Napoli for the missed chances.
His last goal for La Dea came in the league in a 2-1 against Bologna on March 3. He's scored 8 goals in 23 appearances so far for his team.
What next for Napoli, Atalanta?
Napoli fans could not hide their frustration in the home loss and Osimhen and his teammates were vehemently booed after the game.
With three coaches already this season, Rudi Garcia, Walter Mazzarri, and Francesco Calzona, the Partenopei have only managed to garner 45 points in 30 matches this season and they currently sit 7th on the table.
Napoli have to recover from the setback in time as their next matchday will be away at Monza in the league. They will be banking on their goal machine Osimhen to find his scoring boots in their bid to play elite European football next season.
For Atalanta, their next game is a trip to Florence for the Coppa Italia semi final first leg clash against Fiorentina before playing Cagliari away in the Serie A on April 7.
