Despite receiving racist remarks during the match at the Stadio Bentegodi, Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen opened the season with his first goal in Napoli’s 5-2 Italian Serie A victory over Verona.

Napoli, who faced the newly promoted Verona side away from home found themselves a goal down in first half but came back with a goal and an assist from Victor Osimhen.

Napoli off to a rocky start in the new campaign on Monday night, before Kevin Lasagna handed Verona the lead.

The Neapolitans controlled the opening stages and outplayed Verona, but surprisingly found themselves trailing behind when Kevin Lasagna pounced on a cross in the 29th minute.

Kvicha Kvarashkhelia got the equalizer for Napoli in the 37th minute, before Victor Osimhen added a goal just before halftime.

The 23-year-old Super Eagles forward connected with Di Lorenzo’s cross to give Napoli the advantage going into halftime.

Three minutes after the start, Thomas Henry pulled Verona back into the game and increased the pressure on Napoli. Prior to Stanislav Lobotka making it four, Piotr Zielinski gave Napoli its third goal of the evening.

Osimhen then capped his performance of the night with an assist to Matteo Politano in scoring Napoli’s fifth goal of the evening from 12 yards, before being replaced by Adam Ounas in the 83rd minute.

Osimhen distinguished himself as one of Napoli’s stars of the evening, but his celebration ended up being the night’s biggest star.

After scoring his first Serie A goal of the season for Napoli, the Nigerian forward performed the tongue-out celebration in front of the Verona supporters, a gesture he made in a move to mock the bigoted Hellas Verona fans.

His motivation will likely become clear in due course, but for now, it has garnered more attention than either Napoli’s victory that evening or any particular player’s performance.

Shortly after the game, the forward took to his twitter page to say;

“Perfect start into a long journey, we keep going. Thanks to the traveling fans for their support, God is the greatest. We move.”

Perfect Start Into A Long Journey,We Keep Going.Thanks To The Traveling Fans For Their Support,GOD Is The Greatest?We Move?? @sscnapoli ⚽️?️ pic.twitter.com/fJWcyXa9gX

— Victor Osimhen (@victorosimhen9) August 15, 2022

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