Napoli’s Osimhen sends Frankfurt out of Champions League
March 15, 2023
Napoli's star striker Victor Osimhen scored a goal in each half as Frankfurt's first Champions League campaign ended in the last 16.
The build-up to this game had been dominated by the violent clashes between rival fans and local police in Naples, which escalated in the hours before kickoff. Frankfurt fans rejected their allocation of 2,700 tickets meaning the away end of the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium was completely empty.
On the field, Osimhen has lit up Napoli's season with 23 goals in 28 appearances and the Nigerian striker was untouchable again here, opening the scoring with an athletic looping header that left Kevin Trapp stranded in the Frankfurt goal.
Limited only to a few half chances without their own suspended striker Kolo Muani, Frankfurt never got started against the runaway Serie A leaders. Luciano Spaletti's side doubled their lead through Osimhem, who finished a slick Napoli move from close range – injurying his wrist in the process.
Napoli were awarded a soft penalty when Djibril Sow was penalized for a trip, and Polish midfielder Piotr Zielinski made no mistake from the spot – firing down the middle and beyond Trapp and completing a comfortable path into the final eight, where they will be one of three Italian sides still left in the competition alongside AC and Inter Milan.
Frankfurt's exit from the competition comes after Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig lost to English opposition, leaving Bayern Munich as Germany's sole representative.