{"id":294606,"date":"2023-09-30T19:34:25","date_gmt":"2023-09-30T19:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=294606"},"modified":"2023-09-30T19:34:25","modified_gmt":"2023-09-30T19:34:25","slug":"victor-osimhen-scores-off-the-bench-in-napoli-win-amid-tiktok-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/victor-osimhen-scores-off-the-bench-in-napoli-win-amid-tiktok-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"Victor Osimhen scores off the bench in Napoli win amid TikTok scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"
Victor Osimhen came off the bench to score a towering header on Saturday as Napoli beat Lecce 4-0.<\/p>\n
It comes amid uncertainty over the striker’s future at Napoli after he was mocked by his club’s TikTok account.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Osimhen’s agent threatened legal action after the club posted a video that\u00a0showed the 24-year-old appealing for a penalty during a 0-0 draw against Bologna, with sped-up audio captioned ‘Gimme penalty please’ before showing him blazing the spot-kick wide of the post.<\/span><\/p>\n A second video from the club’s account, which has been circulated online and since deleted, compared Osimhen to a ‘coconut’ – widely viewed as a racial slur.<\/p>\n In a statement on Thursday, Napoli broke their silence as they said: ‘Calcio Napoli, wishing to avoid any exploitation of the issue, point out that we never wanted to offend or mock Victor Osimhen, who is a treasure of this club.’<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Napoli striker Victor Osimhen scored off the bench in their 4-0 win over Lecce on Saturday<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0The 24-year-old’s future at the club is uncertain after he was mocked by their social media<\/p>\n Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n Manager Rudi Garcia said the incident was not the reason for his star striker’s omission from the starting side against Lecce, insisting he was left out for squad rotation reasons.<\/p>\n ‘The lads know they must be fully concentrated on this match, because it is already a few days after the last game and it is played under the sun and heat.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘This is no friendly, Lecce have had a great start to the season and we must be at 100 per cent physically and mentally to get a result,’ he told DAZN before the match.<\/p>\n ‘There has to be squad rotation, it is almost a third of the team that changed since the game with Udinese, so it’s natural to look to everyone, including those who come off the bench.’<\/p>\n The manager would not be drawn on the TikTok situation and simply said it would ‘sort itself out.’<\/p>\n Osimhen did not appear to celebrate his goal against Lecce, which put Napoli 2-0 up shortly after half time, but did clap the away fans after full time.<\/p>\n He was similarly unmoved after scoring\u00a0in Napoli’s 4-1 win against Udinese, although he did shake hands with Garcia as he left the pitch.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to reports from Italy, this interaction between the manager and his star striker represents an armistice which could last until a potential departure in January.\u00a0<\/p>\n Aside from concerns over Osimhen, Napoli have made a solid start to their Scudetto defence and sit third in the league after seven games.<\/p>\n They will next be in action in the Champions League, with Real Madrid travelling to Southern Italy on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Osimhen’s agent threatened legal action following videos on Napoli’s TikTok account<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rudi Garcia said the scandal regarding Napoli’s TikTok posts will take care of itself<\/p>\n It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\nIT’S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n