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VICTOR OSIMHEN OUT FOR 3 MONTHS, SET TO MISS AFCON 2022

Napoli have suffered a huge blow in their chase for the Serie A title with star striker Victor Osimhen ruled out for three months with a facial injury, meaning he will miss the African Cup of Nations with Nigeria as well.

Osimhen, 22, sustained fractures to his cheekbone and eye socket during Sunday’s 3-2 defeat by Inter Milan after clashing heads with defender Milan Skriniar.

The Italian side said on Tuesday that the centre forward has undergone surgery on the injury, and will be out for three months as a result.

Osimhen has scored nine goals in 14 appearances for Napoli this season, and his injury serves as a devastating blow for the Serie A leaders, who top the table by goal difference after 13 games.

‘On Tuesday morning, Victor Osimhen was operated on his cheekbone and eye socket by Gianpaolo Tartaro, who was assisted by Dr Mario Santagata with Dr Raffaele Canonico also present,’ the club announced.

‘Titanium plates and screws were used in the operation. The player is doing well and will remain under observation for the next few days.

‘Osimhen is expected to return to action in three months.’

The 22-year-old was the joint top scorer in qualifying for the delayed AFCON tournament with five goals, and has been linked with a switch to the Premier League in recent years.

Arsenal and Chelsea were strongly linked with a move for the striker before Napoli landed their man in a deal worth £74million from French side Lille in 2020.

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EUROPA LEAGUE: LEICESTER SQUANDER TWO GOAL LEAD TO PLAY DRAW WITH NAPOLI AT KINGPOWER

Victor Osimhen denied Leicester the perfect start in the Europa League as Napoli hit back from 2-0 down to snatch a point.

The striker struck twice in the second half as the visitors deservedly grabbed a 2-2 draw in Group C at the King Power Stadium.

Ayoze Perez’s first goal since March and Harvey Barnes’ second-half goal gave the Foxes a commanding lead.

But Osimhen grabbed a classy lifeline for the visitors and then headed in a late leveller, with Leicester’s frustrations compounded when Wilfred Ndidi was sent off in injury time.

Police and stewards had to control a disturbance between the home and travelling fans at full time with missiles thrown between supporters.

Napoli controlled much of the game and were almost left to rue several missed chances with Osimhen, Hirving Lozano, Piotr Zielinski and Kevin Malcuit all wasteful in the first half.

The Foxes – who only introduced Jamie Vardy as a late substitute – go to Legia Warsaw, who won at Spartak Moscow on Wednesday, in two weeks.

Leicester and Napoli started the tournament as joint favourites to lift the trophy in Seville in May and went at each other as if to prove their credentials.

Napoli threatened first and Kasper Schmeichel spilled Osimhen’s early drive from distance before David Ospina came to the visitors’ rescue.

The former Arsenal goalkeeper flung himself at Barnes’ feet to turn his close-range shot wide after Perez bullied his way through and Kelechi Iheanacho helped on his cross.

But Ospina could not thwart the Foxes for long and they grabbed the opener after just nine minutes.

It owed much to Barnes’ direct running when the winger collected the ball on the left from Ryan Bertrand’s clearance.

He burst forward, swapped passes with Patson Daka and delivered a deep cross for Perez to volley in at the far post.

Napoli responded well and the lively Osimhen slashed wide before teeing up Malcuit to shoot over after 29 minutes.

Osimhen continued to be a menace and, when he beat Jonny Evans to cross, only a combination of Timothy Castagne and Schmeichel kept out Zielinski.

Napoli, who had won all three Serie A games this season, had slowly taken control and skipper Lorenzo Insigne drilled wide as the Foxes struggled to regain a rhythm.

The Italians were in command but were becoming wasteful with Nigeria international Osimhen firing another opportunity over before Schmeichel ensured Leicester went into the break ahead.

The Foxes had lived dangerously and survived another warning when Malcuit’s cross found Lozano drifting into space and his header was parried by Schmeichel.

Leicester, playing their first home European game with fans since their Champions League quarter final with Atletico Madrid in 2017, needed a remedy.

Boss Brendan Rodgers recognised it, replacing Perez and Jonny Evans with Youri Tielemans and Caglar Soyuncu at the break, but Leicester initially failed to stem the tide.

Yet, the Foxes thought they had doubled their lead after 59 minutes.

Tielemans was involved, poking the ball through to Daka for the striker to drill in, only to be denied his first Leicester goal by a marginal VAR offside call.

Five minutes later, though, the Foxes did find their second goal.

Iheanacho won the ball in midfield and his perfect pass found Barnes on the left for the winger to tease Malcuit and drill into the corner.

Napoli had paid the price for their profligacy but they pulled a goal back in style with 21 minutes left.

A slick move on the edge of the box involving Insigne, Elif Elmas and Fabian Ruiz ended with Osimhen holding off Jannik Vestergaard and lifting the ball over Schmeichel from six yards.

Unsurprisingly, Napoli pressed for the leveller and Schmeichel turned Elmas’ shot away but the Foxes could not hang on.

Osimhen had been a constant threat and he netted again with three minutes left to level, heading in Matteo Politano’s cross from eight yards.

Ndidi was then dismissed in stoppage time for collecting a second yellow card after he pulled back Adam Ounas.

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WCQ: NIGERIA COME BACK FROM BEHIND TO GET NARROW WIN AT CAPE VERDE

Victor Osimhen’s strike and Kenny Rocha Santos’ own goal helped Nigeria come from behind to beat Cape Verde 2-1 in their 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifying game.

Two defensive blunders from the hosts secured maximum points for the Super Eagles as they clinched back-to-back wins in Group C.

It was a memorable outing for Ahmed Musa who made his 100th appearance for the Super Eagles while Malmo’s Innocent Bonke and Bolgona’s Kingsley Michael were handed starting debuts, in the absence of Wilfred Ndidi and Joe Aribo.

The Blue Sharks drew first blood in the 19th minute after Dylan Dos Santos beat an offside trap to fire his left-footed shot past goalkeeper Maduka Okoye.

Five minutes later, Ryan Mendes tried to test the Super Eagles shot-stopper with another shot but it went off target.

Osimhen and Ejuke linked up a few minutes later as Nigeria kept pushing for an equaliser and the CSKA Moscow winger forced Cape Verde’s Vozinha to parry his long-range shot for a corner-kick.

Their push finally paid off as Osimhen capitalised on a defensive error to draw both teams level in the 29th minute.

Ejuke proved to be a threat to the Blue Sharks’ defence with his long-range efforts, he again forced Vozinha to make a fine save off his curling right shot from the edge of the box.

Nigeria started the second half with a much higher tempo with Nantes winger Moses Simon winning a number of fouls for the visitors.

Just before the hour-mark, Cape Verde coach Bubista opted to introduce Garry Rodrigues for Vagner while Rohr made his tactical changes in the 70th minute as Henry Onyekuru and Terem Moffi replaced Simon and Musa respectively.

Onyekuru made an instant impact but his effort lacked power to beat Vozinha, however, they finally turned the game around after another defensive error. Kenny Rocha Santos played the ball into his team’s net after the goalkeeper had left his position.

With three minutes left on the clock, Vagner Dias nearly canceled the Super Eagles’ second goal but his header was slightly off target.

The victory stretched Nigeria’s lead in Group C to six points after two games while Cape Verde have just gathered a point and they are behind second-placed Liberia.

On Tuesday, Kpah Sherman helped Liberia beat Central African Republic 1-0 with his 86th-minute effort in Douala.

Nigeria will shift their attention to next month’s double-header clash against CAR with the aim of extending their dominance in the group while Cape Verde have a date with Liberia in October.

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LILLE BOSS CONFIRMS OSHIMEN WILL LEAVE THIS SUMMER

Lille boss Christophe Galtier has revealed that Victor Osimhen will be sold during the next transfer window.

Having scored 18 goals during his first campaign at Stade Pierre Mauroy, the 21-year-old has been linked with the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool.

While he did not name clubs who held an interest in the Nigerian, Galtier acknowledged that the striker, as well as Gabriel Magalhaes, would move on in the coming months.

Speaking at a press conference, Galtier said: “Regarding Victor and Gabriel, yes, I’ve known for a long time that they’re leaving.

“They’re working hard with us in the meantime. We’re working on the players who are currently here and those likely to replace them. Of course, the club is working to replace [Osimhen].’

Napoli, who have also been credited as admirers of Osimhen, are said to have agreed a deal for Gabriel.

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NAPOLI NOT GIVING UP ON NEWCASTLE BOUND CIRO IMMOBILE BUT HAS NIGERIAN FORWARD AS PLAN B.

Napoli are not dropping their interest in Newcastle United target Ciro Immobile, but Lazio’s asking price is keeping the southern Italian side looking at Lille’s Victor Osimhen.

Immobile has been in terrific form for Lazio this season, topping the Serie A goalscoring charts ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo with 27 strikes to his name.

His impressive performances has attracted the attention of Premier League side Newcastle, who are preparing a big money move for the Italian once their £300m takeover of the club by a Saudi Arabian-led consortium goes through.

The Magpies face competition in their pursuit of Immobile though with Serie A outfit Napoli hot on the heels of the Lazio striker.

While Napoli are maintaining their interest in Immobile, Lazio’s asking price is fast becoming a stumbling block.

Lazio are claimed to want €70m to sell Immobile, while the striker himself wants wages to the tune of €4m per season.

As such, Napoli are keeping open the possibility of moving to sign Osimhen from Lille.

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is on good terms with his Lille counterpart and it is claimed that €40m plus Adam Ounas could do the trick for Osimhen.