(Football news) Goals from top scorer Victor Osimhen and captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo gave the visitors Napoli a comfortable 2-0 victory over 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt in their Champions League Round of 16 first leg on Tuesday. In-form Nigerian striker Osimhen has now scored 10 goals in his last nine games across all competitions as he opened the scoring for the runaway Serie A leaders when he tapped in at the far post in the 40th minute for the lead.

Captain Di Lorenzo then doubled the scoreline from a superb backheel assist by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who made amends for his first half penalty miss. Frankfurt were at their best as they had Randal Kolo Muani sent off with a red card in the 58th minute and were no match for the Italians, who also hit the post through Hirving Lozano in the first half. They earned a penalty immediately after Aurelio Buta kicked Osimhen on the shin in his effort to clear the ball. Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen have amassed a total of 32 goals between them in all competitions this season but he failed to beat Kevin Trapp from the spot.

Osimhen restored parity only five minutes later after the Mexican Lozano, wreaked havoc down the right wing with his darting run as he whipped in another low cross to the far post for the Nigerian to bundle home. Osimhen now became the first Napoli player to score 20 goals in all competitions of a single season since Arkadiusz Milik did it in 2018-19. Osimhen put the ball in the net again in an almost identical fashion a minute later but his effort was ruled out for offside.

The Gergorian Maradona had a golden chance to double their lead in the 57th but he did not manage to beat Trapp in a one-on-one after another inch perfect through ball by Lozano. The actual turning point for Frankfurt came a minute later when their top scorer Kolo Muani got sent off for a clumsy challenge on Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa. Napoli took advantage of this situation as they increased the pressure and were rewarded in the 65th minute when Kvaratskhelia picked up the ball in the box and backheeled it beautifully for Di Lorenzo who curled a shot into the far bottom corner.

“I am happy with the performance,” Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti said. “From the start the team played with character, took control of the game and did what we wanted to do. We probably had the chance to score an extra goal that could have been useful for us. I still think it is 50-50 for qualification, because there is still a game to be played. We need the utmost humility because when you face a team convinced you have an advantage you can then end up dealing with unexpected situations. Arrogance is the biggest enemy.”

“We still have a second leg to play,” said Frankfurt midfielder Mario Gotze. “They scored two goals here, why should we not do that as well? We know everything is still possible.

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