The Path Is Clear For Napoli To Finally Win Serie A After 33 Years

All he needed was three touches, each one better than the last.

It was in the 16^th minute of the Derby del Sole between Napoli and Roma that Napoli’s in-form hitman Victor Osimhen sprang into life. The Nigerian had been somewhat quiet up until that point, but the Osimhen of this season doesn’t stay quiet for very long.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia floated a gorgeous cross across the box — from left to right — towards the gangly frame of Osimhen. With not one but two Roma defenders surrounding him, there didn’t seem much possibility of Osimhen being able to even get a shot off, let alone score.

Yet his control of Kvaratskhelia’s cross, with his chest, was exceptional. Then came the knee, bringing the ball down his body further and this allowed the most emphatic of finishes one will find this season. Osimhen pulled his leg back and smashed an unstoppable finish into the roof of Rui Patricio’s goal, giving the Portuguese goalkeeper with zero chance of saving the volley.

The Stadio Diego Armando Maradona was sent into a fit of hysteria. It was Osimhen’s 14^th Serie A goal of the season, and there arguably won’t be too many better for the rest of the season.

Despite Osimhen’s wonder goal however, the game seemed to be edging towards a stalemate, with Stephan El Shaarawy stabbing home an equaliser. Yet Giovanni Simeone, perfecting the role of impact sub that he’s made his own since joining Napoli, made sure all three points were secured with a marvellous curling left foot effort, after sending Roma defender Chris Smalling to the shops with a wonderful shimmy and turn.

Roma are now 13 points clear of second-placed Inter. The gap hasn’t been this big at the top of Serie A at this stage of the season since Inter were 11 points clear of Roma in the 2006-07 season.

Surely, this is Napoli’s time? Surely, they can’t drop a 13 point swing in the remaining 18 games of the season? Surely this is going to be the season when they finally win a league title that wasn’t due to the god-like talents of Maradona?

It’s difficult to see where a credible challenger can come from now. Inter are wildly inconsistent. The perfect example of that was seen earlier this month, when they beat Napoli in a mammoth encounter, yet only to lose to Monza in the same week. Simone Inzaghi’s side have been effected by loss of form to key players and injuries to others, and seem unable to put a serious run together.

Milan are currently in free-fall, with Stefano Pioli seemingly out of ideas on how to improve the side in the aftermath of their summer signings failing to bring anything new to what is ostensibly the same side that won the Scudetto last season.

Juventus stand little chance considering their -15 points deduction. Moreover, even if the club win on appeal, and the points deducted is halved, for example, it’s still likely not enough, given that Max Allegri’s side are nowhere near good enough to challenge for the title.

Roma, Lazio and Atalanta are also highly unlikely to be able to mount credible title challenges. The stage is all set for Napoli, the only thing that can possibly stop them is their own neurosis and history of bottle-jobs.

With the club out of the Coppa Italia after their surprise early exit to Cremonese, Luciano Spalletti can concentrate solely on the league and forging a deep run in the Champions League, with the round of 16 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt one in which Napoli should advance to the quarter final, for the first time in the club’s history.

Even with five months of the season left, the path has cleared for Napoli. The big boys are stumbling over one another and there are no credible challengers remaining. All that’s left is for Spalletti’s men is to continue to dazzle us, just like Osimhen did against Roma.