Osimhen scores as Napoli win at Eintracht

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Victor Osimhen scored again on Tuesday to help Napoli to a 2-0 away victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16.

The Nigerian striker has scored his tenth goal in his last eight appearances in various competitions. They opened the scoring after 40 minutes, following a period of pressure from the visitors.

Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti has warned his side shouldn’t think they have the guaranteed ticket, despite dominating long periods of the game on someone else’s pitch. Napoli managed 17 shots on goal against five of the hosts.

“There is still one game left, and you have to play it,” he commented. “Arrogance can be our worst enemy.”

Shortly before the score, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia saw a penalty saved by Frankfurt captain Kevin Trapp. The Georgia winger apparently succumbed to pressure from the home fans, who loudly whistled at him before taking the shot.

Encouraged by this error and by the public, the home team began to press.

But the Mexican Hirving Lozano capitalized on the extra space, escaped on the right wing and lavished a cross for Osimhen to define with all the advantages near the far post.

Napoli repeated the trick a minute later, but this time the goal was disallowed for offside.

Giovanni Di Lorenzo, captain of the Italian club, scored the second goal after 65 minutes, capping a magnificent collective game with a deformed shot at the far post, after Kvaratskhelia had served the ball to him with a heel shot.

In turn, André-Frank Zambo Anguissa had provided the Georgian with a precise forward pass.

Frankfurt’s comeback hopes were dashed minutes earlier when star striker Randal Kolo Muani was shown the red card after hitting Anguissa who he was battling for the ball with.

This means the French striker will be suspended for the return leg in Napoli.

“We tried everything,” said Frankfurt midfielder Mario Götze. “The match was unfavorable to us, also with the red card. It killed us. We didn’t do badly in the first few minutes, but they played well at the end”.

There was a large police presence in the stadium and its surroundings for a duel deemed to be high risk, as some groups of supporters had called for violence. Police made nine arrests the day before.

Napoli supporters have been escorted to the stadium to separate them from the home crowd. An area surrounding the Napoli supporters was left empty and cordoned off to prevent them from having contact with their rivals.