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The Nigeria international reached a century of goals in his professional career after scoring in Napoli’s 2-0 win over Sassuolo on Friday night
Super Eagles star Victor Osimhen reached a major milestone in his professional career as he scored his 100th senior goal.
Osimhen’s moment came in the 33rd minute of Napoli’s Serie A clash against Sassuolo at Mapei Stadium on Friday night.
Kvaratskhelia put the Partenopei ahead in the 12th minute of the game with a brilliant solo run before Osimhen scored the second in superb fashion.
The Super Eagles star did well to beat two Sassuolo defenders to a ball from Stanislas Lobotka before unleashing a brilliant finish from a difficult angle.
It was a goal worthy of the milestone. It took the Nigerian international just 197 games to reach a century of goals.
That is better than Lionel Messi, who needed 210 games to score 100 goals, and Cristiano Ronaldo, whose 100th career goal came in the 301st career game.
Meanwhile, Zlatan Ibrahimovic needed 245 games to reach a century of goals, while Drogba’s 100th goal did not come until his 236th game.
This is to show how impressive Osimhen has been in his young career. But who has benefitted most from his goals? Here is a breakdown of Osimhen’s 100 career goals.
Royal Charleroi
Osimhen would not be the player he is right now if Royal Charleroi had not given him a chance. Although the Nigerian was destined for greatness after breaking out at the FIFA U17 World Cup, it was Charleroi that took a chance on him.
Charleroi signed him from Wolfsburg after his career had been threatened by malaria. The Belgian side gave him a chance when other clubs were not willing.
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Osimhen repaid Charleroi’s faith in him with a brilliant performance in his only year at the club. He scored a whopping 20 goals in just 36 games.
Osimhen scored 12 goals in the regular league season before scoring another seven in the playoffs and one goal in the Belgian Cup.
Astonishingly, only one of his 20 goals for Charleroi came from the penalty spot.
Lille
Osimhen spent just one season at Charleroi before signing for Lille. Osimhen’s remarkable scoring spree continued at Lille, scoring two goals on his Ligue 1 debut against Nantes.
He went on to score 11 more in the French top flight to finish with 13 league goals. It could have been more, but the 2019/2020 season was truncated due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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In addition to his 13 league goals, Osimhen also scored two times in the Champions League, including a header against Chelsea.
He scored another two in Coupe de la Ligue and one in Coupe de France to finish with 18 goals in 36 games. Again, Osimhen scored just two of his goals from his penalty spot.
Napoli
Osimhen spent just one season in Lille before moving to Napoli for a club-record fee of €75m in the summer of 2020.
The Super Eagles star arrived in Italy with a huge reputation but did not score his first goal until the fourth matchday of the season.
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Osimhen scored the last goal in Napoli’s 4-1 thrashing of Atalanta. Injuries did not help Osimhen’s cause in his first year, as he missed three months of action. Still, he went on to score ten goals in 24 league games in his first year for Napoli.
Osimhen raised his level in his second year, scoring 18 goals in all competitions for Napoli, with 14 in the league.
It is important to note that Osimhen started his second year with a red card in Napoli’s first league game of the season and was once again sidelined for two months after breaking his face.
Nonetheless, he went on to score 14 goals in 27 league games for The Parthenopeans. At that point, it was Osimhen’s best-ever return in Europe’s top five leagues.
He also made his mark in Europe, scoring four goals in Napoli. Osimhen finished the 2021/2022 campaign with 32 games.
However, the best was yet to come, as Osimhen continued in the same vein this season. The Nigeria international is already on course for his best individual season, having scored 19 goals in 18 league games despite missing a month due to injury.
He began the season with two goals in his first two games of the season. Osimhen also scored his first hat-trick for Napoli this season against Sassuolo.
The Super Eagles star has also dismissed the notion that he is a flat-track bully with goals against AS Roma [home and away], Juventus and Atalanta.
Osimhen also has one goal against Ajax in the Champions League. As of the time of publishing, Osimhen has scored 47 goals in 85 games for Napoli.
What made the numbers even more remarkable is that none of Osimhen’s goals for Napoli came from the penalty spot.
Nigeria
Rashidi Yekini is Nigeria’s all-time top scorer with 37 goals in 62 games, but Osimhen is on course to break it, having scored 15 goals in 23 games.
Osimhen only made his Super Eagles debut in 2015 but he never played again until 2019, when he made his full debut.
He scored his first goal for Nigeria against Ukraine from the penalty spot in September 2019. Amazingly, that was his only goal for Nigeria in a friendly match, scoring the other 14 goals in competitive matches.
Four of his 15 goals for Nigeria came in his last match against Sao Tome and Principe in 2022.
Osimhen's goals are also valuable for his team. The Super Eagles are unbeaten in all the games Osimhen scored in, with three draws and eight wins.
Osimhen has scored 30 winning goals for his clubs, with 54 wins and just 11 losses in the 72 games he was a goalscorer.
At 24, Osimhen has age on his side in his race to become arguably the greatest goalscorer to come out of the African continent.
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