Victor Osimhen scored a hat trick and struggling Serie A champion Napoli put on one of its best performances of the season with a 6-1 triumph over relegation-threatened Sassuolo on Wednesday.
With its first victory under new coach Francesco Calzona, Napoli remained in ninth place but moved level on points with eighth-place Lazio and back into the discussion for the Europe spots.
Calzona, Napoli’s third coach this season, was hired to replace the fired Walter Mazzarri last week and had so far produced draws with Barcelona in the Champions League and Cagliari in Serie A.
Sassuolo is third from the bottom and extended its winless run to seven in its first game under Emiliano Bigica, who replaced the fired Alessio Dionisi on Sunday.
With its first victory under new coach Francesco Calzona, Napoli remained in ninth place but moved level on points with eighth-place Lazio and back into the discussion for the Europe spots.
Calzona, Napoli’s third coach this season, was hired to replace the fired Walter Mazzarri last week and had so far produced draws with Barcelona in the Champions League and Cagliari in Serie A.
Sassuolo is third from the bottom and extended its winless run to seven in its first game under Emiliano Bigica, who replaced the fired Alessio Dionisi on Sunday.
In a matchup of two of this season’s biggest disappointments, Sassuolo went ahead early when Uros Racic scored with a long, low, curving shot.
Napoli defender Amir Rrahmani equalized after getting set up by Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa.
Then Osimhen took over with three goals in 16 minutes.
Matteo Politano set up Osimhen’s first two goals, enabling last season’s scoring leader to tap in twice. Then Khvicha Kvaratskhelia intercepted a gifted pass from a Sassuolo defender and shifted the ball over to Osimhen for another easy goal.
Kvaratskhelia got on the score sheet himself when he dribbled in from the left wing and launched an accurate shot through a crowd of defenders. Then the Georgia dribbling wizard scored again by gathering a rebound of his own shot and sending in another long shot.
Napoli will now visits Barcelona for the second leg of their Champions League last 16 matchup on March 12.
