Victor Osimhen managed to salvage a late point for Napoli in their match against Cagliari this evening, but it was David Ospina who put the Partenopei in that position to begin with.
The 33-year-old Colombian goalkeeper made a disastrous mistake in the 58th minute of the match at the Unipol Domus tonight, allowing Gastón Pereiro to score the opener. He really should have done better to stop the shot, considering it was a fairly speculative attempt from outside the penalty area.
The goal put Napoli in a really tough position; the Partenopei had been on the back foot for the majority of the match and they knew that they’d need to grind out a result, but going 1-0 down meant possibly exposing themselves to counter attacks as they pushed for an equaliser.
Ospina did follow up on his mistake with a number of strong saves throughout the rest of the match, but his mistake could still prove costly in Napoli’s fight for the league title this season.
A win against Cagliari would have taken them to the top of the table, tied on points with Milan, but the draw means that they remain third, tied on points with Inter instead.
As the season enters the decisive stages, results like this one tonight are the ones that can make the difference in a neck and neck title race, so only time will tell just how costly Ospina’s error was.