Napoli boss Rudi Garcia praises Osimhen’s penalty decision in 2-0 spanking of Sassuolo

Napoli coach Rudi Garcia has applauded Victor Osimhen’s decision to hand over their second penalty kick to Giacomo Raspadori in their 2-0 victory over Sassuolo on Sunday, Soccernet reports.

Osimhen put up another decent performance for Napoli against Sassuolo on Sunday. The 24-year-old scored the opener via a spot-kick in the 18th minute, and he had other chances to increase his side’s lead in the first half, but he failed to score.

Eventually, Napoli won another penalty in the second half after a Sassuolo player committed a foul in the box. However, instead of taking the penalty himself, Osimhen handed the responsibility to Raspadori in a bid to boost his confidence. Unfortunately for the Italy international, he failed to score.

Nonetheless, Napoli’s blushes were saved, as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored the second goal in the 64th minute to seal the win for the reigning champions.

During the post-match conference, Garcia praised Osimhen for leaving the second penalty to Raspadori.

“Victor[Osimhen] scored and made a world-class gesture by giving the penalty to Raspadori,” Garcia said per Tutto Napoli.

“Raspadori can play many roles. He defends, runs and helps the team. Apart from a bit of bad luck and the goalposts, I’m happy with his game. Missing a penalty happens to the greatest players in football”.

Raspadori’s penalty miss did not matter in the end as Napoli won the game 2-0. However, Osimhen may have to be ruthless with the opportunities he gets. If he had taken more penalties last season, he could have increased his 31-goal haul significantly.