Victor Osimhen had a day to forget as Napoli played out to a goalless draw against Bologna in Serie A on Sunday.
Napoli continue to struggle in the 2023/24 Serie A season under Rudi Garcia with their latest outing against Bologna ending in a goalless stalemate.
The Partenopei do not look likely to retain their title which was all but won before the turn of 2023. Worse still, Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has failed to find the back of the net for the last three matchdays. Including their UEFA Champions League opening game, the striker is on a four game goal drought.
Napoli's struggles were evident against Bologna. This article contains match facts from the stalemate.
90+5 | Full time ⏹️#BolognaNapoli 0-0 pic.twitter.com/nfEfEZOshs
— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) September 24, 2023
Victor Osimhen missed penalty tells sorry state of Napoli in 2023/24 Serie A season
Napoli had the chance to go ahead when Victor Osimhen was gifted with a golden opportunity to add to his three goals in the season from the spot.
The AFCON 2023 qualifiers top scorer and potential AFCON golden boot winner sent Bologna goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski the wrong way but his kick was way wide off the mark. That 72nd minute penalty miss was his fourth shot in the game and he was taken off 16 minutes later.
It marked the second penalty miss of his Napoli career from five penalties taken, keeping his record at 60 percent penalty conversion for the Scudetto holders. He will continue to take the spot kicks for the team but he will be concerned about his conversion rate as he assumes the responsibility full time.
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More importantly, he will be concerned about being unable to score in five straight games for the Partenopei. This drought is his longest goal drought for the club and it does not bode well for his dreams of sealing a move to the Premier League.
The 0-0 scoreline made it three matches in a row for Napoli in which they have failed to win in the Serie A. This is the first time in 18 months this has happened.
Fans have already begun to murmur and chastise Aurelio De Laurentiis for axing Luciano Spaletti after winning the club the Serie A title.
Rudi Garcia can take as a positive, however, the fact that Napoli have their unbeaten streak going against Bologna. The Partenopei have not lost to Bologna since 2019 and have played eight games since then (five wins and threw draws).
Victor Osimhen lowest rated Napoli player after goalless run against Bologna
Victor Osimhen's penalty miss undid his other efforts in the game in the eyes of the statistics collectors and documenters.
The former LOSC Lille striker had four shots with one on target – an early shot that was parried by Skorupski onto the post.
His average rating was a 6/10 although not many players from the Scudetto holders managed to earn over a 7/10 rating. The striker continues to enjoy the favour of his manager, however, who also praised his team's performance in the game after the match.
“The negative element is the result, but the performance was good, especially in the first half,” he told DAZN. “We had some tactics that worked but are not entirely happy because there is no victory.
“Even the greatest players in the history of football miss penalties. As for when he (Osimhen) went off, we talked about that, what I say to my players remains in the locker room.
“When we have this much quality, we can’t always have 90 minutes with the same men, especially as we have four games in nine days.”
This article was most recently revised and updated 1 month ago
