Osimhen and ‘Kvara’ extend Napoli's winning streak to 13

What a shame for most soccer fans that Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia won't be at the World Cup in Qatar.

The Napoli forwards have been two of the most exciting players in Europe this season.

When he's healthy — which isn't often — Osimhen is as big of a goal‐scoring threat as nearly any‐ one. Kvaratskhelia, meanwhile, is a dribbling wizard who can set up goals, score himself and just gen‐ erally put spectators on the edge of their seats every time he touches the ball.

Osimhen scored a hat trick and Kvaratskhelia scored one and set up two as Serie A leader Napoli beat Sassuolo 4‐0 on Saturday to extend a club record with its 13th straight win across all competi‐ tions.

Osimhen dedicated all of his goals to his daughter.

Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia won't be at the World Cup in three weeks because Osimhen's Nigeria and Kvaratskhelia's Georgia failed to qualify.

Nigeria is missing its first World Cup since 2006, while Georgia, which started playing independ‐ ently only in the 1990s after the breakup of the Soviet Union, has never qualified.

That's just fine for Napoli, though, which will be happy to gain some extra rest for its top two players during the World Cup.

Along with superstar‐filled Paris Saint‐Germain and 14‐time Euro‐ pean champion Real Madrid, Napoli was among the only clubs in Europe's five major leagues to remain unbeaten.

Napoli's latest victory came on a day when the team celebrated the birthday of club great Diego Maradona, who would have turned 62 on Sunday. Maradona, who died in 2020, led Napoli to its only two Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990.

Another title finally appears within reach for the southern club.

Napoli extended its lead to six points ahead of defending cham‐ pion AC Milan, which visits Torino on Sunday.

Osimhen opened the scoring four minutes in at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, using two touches to redirect a cross that was flicked on by Kvaratskhelia to the far post.

A quarter of an hour later, "Kvara" pulled back a quick pass from the end line directly to Os‐ imhen, who fired it in from the edge of the six‐yard box in a move that resembled billiards.

Kvaratskhelia took matters into his own hands for Napoli's third, producing acrobatic control of a ball over the top from Mário Rui before quickly unleashing an ac‐ curate shot.

Osimhen added another score after the break by chipping over charging goalkeeper Andrea Con‐ sigli to finish off a counterattack.

Osimhen — who missed five weeks of the season due to injury — has seven goals in eight matches to top the Serie A chart alongside Bologna's Marko Arnautović. "Kvara" has produced even more with six goals and five assists.

Up next is a visit to Liverpool on Tuesday, when Napoli will try to complete a perfect Champions League group phase after winning its opening five matches in em‐ phatic fashion — including a 4‐1 home win over Liverpool.

Juventus rebounded from its Champions League elimination with a 1‐0 win at Serie B cham‐ pion Lecce for its third straight victory in Serie A.

Nicolò Fagioli scored his first league goal in the 73rd with a spectacular, curling effort after being set up by fellow substitute Samuel Iling‐Junior, who was also one of the few bright spots in the midweek 4‐3 loss at Benfica.

Morten Hjulmand nearly equal‐ ized for Lecce with a shot off the post in another performance from Juventus that wasn't entirely con‐ vincing.

Still, Juventus moved up to sixth, 10 points behind Napoli.

6 Bayern players score in Bundesliga rout of Mainz

MUNICH (AP) — Bayern Munich is back on top of the Bundesliga, for a day at least, after sweeping aside Mainz 6‐2 with six different scorers to continue a run of big wins.

Sadio Mané bagged one goal and set up two more as Bayern cruised to its sixth straight win in all competitions, with an impres‐ sive 25 goals scored in those games.

Bayern needed just five minutes to take the lead as Mané set up Serge Gnabry for the opening goal. Jamal Musiala added a second and Mané earned, then scored, a penalty just before the break.

Mainz had chances to get back into the game, with Jonathan Burkardt hitting the crossbar and seeing his poorly hit penalty tipped over the bar. Silvan Wid‐ mer headed in from the resulting corner to make it 3‐1, but Mainz's comeback stopped there.

A precise cross from Mané al‐ lowed Leon Goretzka to head in for Bayern in the 58th and 17‐ year‐old French striker Mathys Tel added Bayern's fifth off the bench with a deflected shot in the 80th.

Backup goalkeeper Sven Ulreich — deputizing while Manuel Neuer's recovery from a shoulder injury drags on — gave away the ball under little pressure soon after, allowing Marcus Ingvartsen to score a consolation goal for Mainz.

The four‐goal lead was restored when Eric Maxim Choupo‐Moting, the veteran forward who has given Bayern much‐needed struc‐ ture in attack recently, scored in the 86th for his sixth goal in five games, after earlier assisting on Musiala's goal.

Bayern went to the top by two points from surprise early season leader Union Berlin, which can re‐ take first place if it beats Borussia Mönchengladbach on Sunday.

Bayern's focus switches to Inter Milan on Tuesday as the German champion aims to complete a per‐ fect record of six wins from six in the Champions League group stage.

Leipzig stayed a tough team to beat at home after a 2‐0 result over struggling Bayer Leverkusen.

Leipzig has won seven succes‐ sive home games under coach Marco Rose since he was ap‐ pointed in September following a crushing 4‐1 loss at home to Shakhtar Donetsk under his pred‐ ecessor Domenico Tedesco.

Christopher Nkunku's header and Timo Werner's goal on a counterattack gave Leipzig the win. Injuries meant Leipzig started with third‐choice goal‐ keeper Orjan Nyland but he had little to do against a Leverkusen team which dropped to 16th and has one win in six games under new coach Xabi Alonso.

Felix Nmecha has spent most of his career in the shadow of his older brother and teammate Lukas, first at Manchester City and then at Wolfsburg, but he was the star as Wolfsburg beat relegation‐ threatened Bochum 4‐0.

Felix Nmecha scored his first ca‐ reer Bundesliga goal with a header in the 27th minute then notched a second in similar style in the second half.

Ridle Baku and Jonas Wind had the other goals for Wolfsburg, which is unbeaten in six league and cup games.