The 34-year-old Belgian put in an outstanding performance in the Partenopei’s last Serie A outing. Lorenzo Insigne is certain his Napoli teammate Dries Mertens will deliver for the club while Victor Osimhen remains on the sidelines.
The Nigeria international suffered a facial injury in Napoli’s 2-1 loss at Inter Milan which ended their unbeaten start to the season. The 22-year-old required surgery and is expected to be out for three months, ruling him out of the Africa Cup of Nations in January.
There were fears of how Napoli would cope without Osimhen, who has a hand in 11 competitive goals this season (nine goals, two assists), and their title prospects as well. Luciano Spalletti’s men however showed no signs of struggling when they brushed aside Lazio 4-0 to remain top of the table, the goals coming from Piotr Zielinski, Fabian, and a Mertens brace.
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Mertens now has four goals this season in 11 games in all competitions. He is the club’s all-time top scorer with 139 strikes.
“I have known Mertens for so many years, it is no coincidence he is Napoli’s all-time top scorer and we have nothing to worry about with him,” Insigne told DAZN.
Before the match kicked off, Napoli paid tribute to the legendary Diego Maradona – who died of a heart attack a year ago – by dimming the stadium lights and unveiling a life-size statue in his honor. The Argentine icon was a catalyst in the club’s most successful period in the late 1980s. He was honored with the San Paolo renamed after him upon his death last year.
Insigne is pleased that Napoli was able to win the game and perform well in Maradona’s honor.
“I asked to turn the television on and watch it all, but they told me to stay focused in the locker room instead, so I will watch it later,” Insigne said.
“We wanted to remember Diego with a great performance, it really meant a lot to us that we honor him.”
Napoli is three points clear of AC Milan who lost at home to Sassuolo on Sunday. The men in sky blue will next tackle the Neroverdi at the Mapei Stadium on Wednesday.
