AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori has revealed how he was able to limit the impact of Nigeria international Victor Osimhen during the second leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final battle against local rivals Napoli on Tuesday at the Diego Maradona Stadium.
Charged with man-marking the Nigerian, Tomori, who was born in England to Nigerian parents, came out on top as Milan held Napoli 1-1, securing a spot in the competition’s semi-finals following a 1-0 triumph at the San Siro in the first leg.
Osimhen missed the first leg of the match due to injury, and his absence was noticed greatly.
The return of the former Lille forward dominated headlines ahead of the return fixture, with manager Luciano Spalletti admitting his side were banking on the striker’s magic to pull through to the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history.
The Super Eagles striker was caged until the 93rd minute when a powerful header in stoppage time beat Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan, giving fans of the Series A title contenders some slender hope. But Tomori and his center-back partner Simon Kjaer had other ideas and were resolute at the back.
The England defender stood firm to see the game through and secure a spot in the semi-finals even though Osimhen scored the equalizer late in the match to give his team some semblance of optimism.
Speaking after the game with CBS pundit and Arsenal’s all-time top scorer, Thierry Henry, the Chelsea academy product revealed how he was able to reduce Osimhen’s potency in the clash.
“Obviously Victor is having a great season and I know how dangerous he is. I just tried to make sure I got my body in between in and the ball at all times as much as possible,” he said.
“I was disappointed he managed to score at the end. I just tried to get to him as tight as possible and try not to give him a lot of space.
“We actually frustrated them and we limited the amount of times that the ball could get to him in dangerous areas, and when the ball actually came we defended really well, we got tied to him, we had a lot of cover.
“Coming into a game like this with a player of that quality you know that you have to be tied to him, you have to be switched on and I think we were today (Tuesday).”
Despite missing a chunk of Champions League games, Osimhen managed to score five goals in six appearances in this season’s competition.
