Fikayo Tomori has revealed how he was able to restrict the influence of Nigerian international Victor Osimhen during the Champions League knockout game between AC Milan and Napoli.
During Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-finals second-leg match at the Diego Maradona Stadium, Fikayo Tomori served as Osimhen’s man-marker.
The AC Milan defender who was born in England to Nigerian parents succeeded in limiting the influence of Napoli’s talisman in most parts of the game which ended in a 1-1 draw.
The draw was enough for Milan to qualify for the next round of the competition after beating Napoli without Osimhen 1-0 in the first leg of the tie at San Siro.
Osimhen’s return to full fitness ahead of the second leg gave Napoli’s fans hope that the Naples side could overturn the result of the first leg.
Also, Napoli’s manager Luciano Spalletti stated that his team was banking on the striker’s form to reach the Champions League semifinals for the first time in the club’s history.
Unfortunately, Osimhen who scored a disallowed goal in the game had to wait until the 93rd minute of the encounter to score a legitimate goal in the 1-1 draw as his side ended their journey in the Champions League 2-1 on aggregate.
In an interview with Arsenal’s all-time highest goalscorer and CBS pundit Thierry Henry, Fikayo Tomori revealed how he and his team limited Osimhen’s potency during the Champions League knockout game.
He said, “Obviously Victor is having a great season and I know how dangerous he is. I just tried to make sure I got my body in between in and the ball at all times as much as possible.
“I was disappointed he managed to score at the end. I just tried to get to him as tight as possible and try not to give him a lot of space.
“We actually frustrated them and we limited the number of times that the ball could get to him in dangerous areas, and when the ball actually came we defended really well, we got tied to him, we had a lot of covers.
“Coming into a game like this with a player of that quality you know that you have to be tied to him, you have to be switched on and I think we were today (Tuesday).”
