Victor Osimhen's Napoli teammates offered money to beat Milan in Serie A showdown

Victor Osimhen celebrates with his Napoli teammates this season. (Photo Credit: Vidi/X)

Victor Osimhen's Napoli teammates offered money to beat Milan in Serie A showdown

Izuchukwu Akawor 05:46 - 01.11.2023

Victor Osimhen's Napoli enticed with cash rewards against rivals AC Milan in the Serie A.

Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen was missing in action as SSC Napoli players were offered cash rewards in their last Serie A clash against rivals AC Milan. 

Napoli President, Aurelio De Laurentis reportedly offered his players cash bonuses to turn things around after watching Milan run riot at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium at halftime. 

Napoli vs Milan: Osimhen-less hosts get bonus

In what was a four-goal thriller, Milan went into the break in total control against their hosts, Napoli, in Naples on Sunday. 

Two stunning headers from Olivier Giroud gave the Rossoneri a commanding 2-0 to put Napoli, who were without their injured Ballon d’Or number eight star, Osimhen, on the brink of a third and embarrassing defeat of the season.

Victor Osimhen is out injured |Photo Credit: Imago

But according to Sempremilan, Napoli's President couldn’t let that happen as he headed down to the team’s dressing room at the break.

The enigmatic President, who has been in the news lately due to contract talks between the club and Osimhen, reportedly offered his players some incentive to turn the tie around.

Olivier Giroud was a thorn in the skin of Napoli stars. (Photo Credit: Milan/X)

While the amount of money the Napoli owner offered his team was not stated, the tactic proved decisive as the home side snatched a share of the spoils. 

A blistering 13-minute run in the second half saw Napoli equalise thanks to goals from Matteo Politano and Giacomo Raspadori.

In Osimhen's absence, it is to Napoli's advantage that Simeone is also injured: it keeps Spalletti from the same mistake he made in the 4-0 AC Milan hammering
Victor Osimhen and Giacomo Raspadori.

Napoli almost snatched all three points late on through wide forward, Khvicha Kvaraskhelia, who was, however, denied by a brilliant Mike Maignan in goal for Milan. 

What the result meant

After coming from two goals down to steal a share of the spoils at home, Napoli remain within touching distance of the leading pack. 

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ug/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

Osimhen’s champions sit fifth on the Serie A table after  10 matches with 18 points, four behind their visitors Milan in third. 

Napoli are, however, still some distance away from leaders, Inter Milan, who sit at the top with 25 points.

Related content