Napoli striker Victor Osimhen has surpassed AC Milan and African legend George Weah to become the highest scoring African in the Italian Serie A after grabbing the only goal in his side’s 1-0 win over Fiorentina at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Sunday.
Osimhen scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in the 74th minute, redeeming himself having failed to convert an earlier penalty in the 48th minute of the game. It was his first ever goal from the spot at club level.
The previous record of 46 goals was held by AC Milan legend and current Liberian president George Weah who represented Milan between 1995 and 2000 winning the World Footballer of The Year award within the period.
While Weah scored the goals within a period of five seasons, Osimhen has surpassed the feat in just three seasons with four games left in the current campaign. The Nigerian during Napoli’s midweek 1-1 draw against Udinese had also surpassed former Cameroon and Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto’o as the African player with the most goals in a single Serie A campaign.
Eto’o had scored 21 goals for Inter in the 2009/10 season when they won the treble. Osimhen this season has taken his tally to 23 goals in 28 league games. He has found the back of the net 28 times in 35 appearances across all competitions.
The goal also sees him take a four goal advantage over Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez in the battle for the top scorer’s award. Lautaro is currently on 19 goals with four games till the end of the season. Should Osimhen win the top scorer of the season award, he will become the first African in the history of the Serie A to achieve the feat.