Former Italy international, Emmanuele Giaccherini, has spoken in favour of Victor Osimhen following the forward’s penalty miss against Juventus last weekend.
Giaccherini spoke after Napoli’s historic win against Juventus, on Radio Crc, via Il Napolista.
In a thrilling encounter in Seria A against Juventus, Napoli were awarded a penalty after the referee deemed a tackle from the young Belgian midfielder Joseph Nonge caught Osimhen on the ankle with five minutes left on the clock.
Osimhen saw his late minute spot kick saved by Wojciech Szczesny but Giancomo Raspadori saved his blushes by putting the rebound into the net.
Napoli won the keenly contested encounter at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium 2-1.
The Nigeria striker has failed to score three of the seven penalties he had taken for Napoli since the start of the 2022-23 season.
Giaccherini has identified the importance of the number 9 to the Napoli squad, adding that his performance should not be evaluated solely based on his missed penalties but his overall output on the pitch
“Penalties are wrong, we know. That’s not what you judge a player by,” he said on Radio Crc.
“What I look at is the work that Osimhen does, bringing with him more than one opponent. Kvara also benefited from this. This duo can be Napoli’s added value in Italy and Europe.”
