Victor Osimhen comes off bench to help Napoli win 4-0 at Lecce and close in on Serie A leaders

Victor Osimhen, Leo Ostigard, Gianluca Gaetano and Matteo Politano got on the scoresheet for the the defending Serie A champion on Saturday.

Napoli’s Victor Osimhen celebrates after scoring during the Serie A match against Lecce and Napoli at the Via del Mare stadium. | Photo Credit: AP

Victor Osimhen came off the bench to help Napoli win 4-0 at Lecce in Serie A on Saturday as the defending champion notched four goals for the second straight match.

Osimhen, who had been angered by the club following a social media post this week, doubled Napoli’s lead early in the second half. Leo Ostigard, Gianluca Gaetano and Matteo Politano also got on the scoresheet.

Napoli moved a point behind league leader Inter Milan and AC Milan, who will play against Salernitana and Lazio, respectively, later.

It was a second straight defeat for Lecce, which was unbeaten before Tuesday’s 1-0 loss at Juventus and had won its previous four home matches.

Napoli had ended a three-match winless run with a 4-1 win over Udinese midweek but coach Rudi Garcia opted to rest Osimhen on Saturday ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League match against Real Madrid.

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Napoli took the lead in the 16th minute when Piotr Zielinski floated a free kick from the left to the back post and Ostigard headed it into the top corner for his first Serie A goal.

Garcia brought on Osimhen at halftime and the forward had an instant impact as he found the back of the net just six minutes later. Much of the credit has to go to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who cut in from the left and lifted a perfect ball onto the head of Osimhen at the back post.

It was Osimhen’s fifth goal in seven league matches this season. The 24-year-old was the top goalscorer in Serie A last season.

Gabriel Strefezza thought he had got Lecce back into the match seven minutes later but his effort was ruled out following a handball by Nikola Krstović in the buildup.

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Gaetano was brought on for his season debut with seven minutes remaining and he scored shortly afterward with a strike from the edge of the area.

He also won a penalty after being tripped by Ylber Ramadani. Politano, who had been given the ball by Osimhen, struck it into the bottom left corner.