Napoli striker Osimhen gets one-match suspension

Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen, has been handed a one-match suspension and will miss Napoli’s crucial Serie A match against Atalanta on Sunday.

The suspension was because Osimhen has received five yellow cards this season, which, by Serie A regulations, render him ineligible for Napoli’s next league match.

The Nigerian forward received his first yellow card in September against Cagliari, in his return to action after picking up a red card in Napoli’s first match of the season, a 2-0 home win against Venezia in August. Against Cagliari, he scored in what finished as a 2-0 victory at the Diego Maradona Stadium.

In November, Osimhen received two yellow cards, the first in a 1-1 tie with Verona and the second against Inter Milan, just seconds before sustaining multiple facial injuries that necessitated surgery and kept him out of the field for over two months.

Osimhen returned from rehabilitation in late January with a face mask and went through February without being cautioned until he picked up another booking when Napoli lost by the odd goal to visiting league leaders AC Milan in March.

Luciano Spalletti’s first-choice striker then scored four goals in two games just before the international break – against Verona and Udinese – but picked up his fifth yellow of the season for a handball against the Little Zebras.

As a result, Osimhen will miss Napoli’s critical Serie A match against Atalanta on Sunday. Second-placed Napoli needs all possible points to keep pace with league leaders AC Milan, who have a three-point advantage.

It is a tough place to go to for Spalletti’s side as the Neapolitans have not won at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo since December 2018. Il Partenopei must find a way past Gian Piero Gasperini’s side without their prime goal-scorer to keep their title ambitions alive.

TheWill/Nnenna.O