Nigerian International Victor Osimhen scored his first professional hat trick in Napoli’s win against Sassuolo.
With his impressive appearance in Napoli’s 11 straight win in all competitions, he became the first Nigerian to score a hat-trick in Serie A and the fifth African after Liberia’s George Weah (for AC Milan in 1998), Cameroon’s Patrick Mboma (Cagliari in 1999), Egypt’s Mohamed Salah (AS Roma in 2016) and Senegal’s Keita Balde (Lazio in 2017).
The 23-year-old’s terrific treble on Saturday also gave him a share of the first place in the golden boot race with Austria’s Marko Arnautovic. He scored twice in the first 19 minutes and the third, 13 minutes from time.
Osimhen is now Nigeria’s joint-top scorer in Serie A with 31 goals. He holds the record with former Crotone star, Simy Nwankwo.
He has scored a total of seven goals in eight league appearances for Napoli this season despite being away for 1 month after sustaining a thigh injury.
Osimhen’s win helped Napoli extend their lead at the top of the table. The club has successfully built a five-point lead at the top of Serie A after 12 rounds.
