Napoli see off Hellas Verona to keep the pressure on AC Milan at the top of Serie A

Hellas Verona 1-2 Napoli: Victor Osimhen scores in both halves as Luciano Spalletti’s side pick up an important win to close the gap to AC Milan to three points at the top of Serie A

  • Victor Osimhen scored twice for Napoli to give his side a crucial three points
  • Marco Davide Faraoni pulled a goal back for Verona with 13 minutes remaining
  • The hosts had Federico Ceccherini and Faraoni sent off in the closing stages

Napoli climbed to second in Serie A after a double from Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen fired them to a 2-1 win at Hellas Verona on Sunday.

Osimhen made the difference in a tight match in Verona, heading the visitors in front in the 14th minute after darting across his man.

Verona applied plenty of pressure after the break, with Osimhen feeling the effects of one of several robust Verona challenges, before Napoli’s top goalscorer recovered to double his side’s lead with 19 minutes left.

Victor Osimhen headed Napoli in front in the first half as he met Matteo Politano’s cross

He scored again after the break and celebrated by picking up a camera from behind the goal

He scored again after the break and celebrated by picking up a camera from behind the goal

MATCH FACTS

Hellas Verona (3-4-3): Montipo; Sutalo, Gunter, Ceccherini; Faraoni, Tameze (Casale 89), Ilic (Hongla 90), Depaoli (Bessa 38); Barak (Cancellieri 89), Caprari, Simeone

Scorer: Faraoni

Booked: Gunter, Ilic, 

Sent off: Ceccherini, Faraoni

Manager: Igor Tudor

Napoli (4-3-3): Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Koulibaly, Rui; Zambo Anguissa, Lobotka, Ruiz (Zielinski 90); Politano (Elmas 63), Lozano (Insigne (63), Osimhen (Petagna 90, Ghoulam 90)

Scorer: Osimhen (2)

Booked: None

Sent off: None

Manager: Luciano Spaletti 

A spirited Verona refused to give in and got back into the contest as captain Davide Faraoni headed home, but Federico Ceccherini’s sending off for two bookable offences seven minutes from time ended their hopes of completing the turnaround.

Faraoni was then also shown a red card after the final whistle for protesting to the referee. 

The victory took Luciano Spalletti’s title chasers on to 60 points from 29 matches played, three points behind leaders AC Milan and two ahead of Inter, who play Torino later on Sunday. Verona stay ninth.

Marco Davide Faraoni pulled a goal back for Verona but it wasn't enough to earn any points

Marco Davide Faraoni pulled a goal back for Verona but it wasn’t enough to earn any points