Victor Osimhen: Super Eagles striker banishes ghost of Bologna penalty miss with excellent spot-kick against Fiorentina

Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen scored from the spot in the closing minutes of the first half of Napoli’s Serie A clash with Fiorentina to finally banish the horror that followed his penalty miss against Bologna last month.

Napoli played host to Fiorentina on Sunday evening at the Diego Maradona Stadium, knowing that a win would take them to within two points of league leaders AC Milan.

But Fiorentina did not get the memo, and Josip Brekalo reacted first to a loose ball to score the opening goal for the visitors within the opening seven minutes.

Napoli laboured in vain for the equaliser until Osimhen won the home team a penalty in the fifth minute of first-half added time after Pietro Terracciano tripped him.

A moment of decision followed.

Osimhen – Napoli’s designated penalty taker – had given up the responsibility after he missed his kick against Bologna on September 24.

A huge controversy ensued as the Nigerian forward was mocked for the miss by Napoli’s official TikTik and Twitter accounts – an error Arsenal legend Thierry Henry tagged ‘stupid’ and ‘racist’.

With the crisis that followed still raging, Osimhen refused to take any penalties for Napoli in the two subsequent games.

Piotr Zieliński converted the spot-kick for Rudi Garcia’s men against Udinese, while Matteo Politano did the honours against Lecce.

But against Fiorentina, Osimhen took matters into his own hands and fired home the penalty expertly, even though goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano was close to denying the opportunity.