Victor Osimhen scored his 14th league goal in 16 game of the 2022/23 season on Sunday as Napoli beat Roma 2-1 at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
The 24-year-old found the back of the net just 17 minutes into the game before he was substituted in the 76th minute, with Luciano Spalletti sending in Giacomo Raspadori.
With this season midway, it is the Nigerian show in Italy, with Lookman the man competing with Osimhen for the Paolo Rossi Award.
Lookman is Serie A’s second-highest scorer this season after notching 12 goals in 19 games, making him the second most prolific scorer in the league, behind Osimhen.
The Nigerians are having a fantastic season with Napoli and Atalanta respectively, and their goal numbers are a testament to that.
While Osimhen currently leads the scorers’ charts, the battle between the Napoli forward and Lookman will go down the wire with the former Leicester City winger expected to give him a run for his money going by his current form.
The Super Eagles duo are the first players to hit the double figure in the Serie A this campaign, before Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martínez brace against Cremonese on Saturday saw him join them with 11 goals.
Lookman however fired a warning shot to Osimhen that he was confident of beating him to the Paolo Rossi Award.
“I will catch him (Osimhen). Not I might, I will,” Osimhen told The Athletic.
Not looking like a man to relinquish the top spot on the scorers’ chart, the 24-year-old netted again to extend the margin between him and his compatriot, who had reduced the deficit a day earlier.
Both players have not shown any sign of slowing down and may go head-to-head until the end of the season, but if there is anything Osimhen has shown his countryman, it is the fact that he prefers to do his talking on the field of play.
