Victor Osimhen continued his impressive goalscoring form with Napoli since returning from the AFCON 2023 as his hat-trick helped Napoli thrashwd struggling Sassuolo 6-1 in Serie A on Wednesday.
It was the Italian champions’ first victory under interim coach Francesco Calzona and Napoli’s first league win in four games.
With 40 points from 26 games, they are eight points behind Bologna in fourth place and tied with Lazio for ninth in the rankings.
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At this stage of their following campaign, Napoli’s record as an Italian champion team is the lowest ever, with 28 fewer points than they had at the beginning of the previous season after 25 games played.
Midfielder Uros Racic gave the home team Sassuolo the lead in the 17th minute when he pounced on a shoddy clearing and fired a low drive into the corner of the net.
In the 29th minute, Cameroon midfielder Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa set up Rrahmani for a powerful low shot that beat Sassuolo keeper Andrea Consigli to equalise for Napoli.
Two minutes later, Osimhen gave Napoli the lead when Matteo Politano set him up with a deft backheel and Giovanni Di Lorenzo sent another excellent pass inside the box.
Just before the interval, Osimhen made it 3-1 by chipping the goalkeeper following another Politano cross.
Napoli overpowered their opponents, and two minutes into the second half, Osimhen scored his hat-trick after a defensive blunder by Sassuolo made it 4-1 to the visitors.
After Diego Maradona and Attila Sallustro, Osimhen became the third player from Napoli to score twice in four straight league campaigns with his eleventh goal of the year.
After a solo run in the 51st minute, Kvaratskhelia made it 5-1. Fifteen minutes remaining, he finished the rout with a spectacular goal off a rebound.
With 20 points, Sassuolo is ranked 18th, having fired coach Alessio Dionisi on Sunday following their seventh league loss in ten games.
In the second half of the 2023–24 Serie A season, they and Salernitana are the only teams without a victory.