Victor Osimhen had a nightmare start to the Serie A new campaign as he was sent off for punching an opponent but Napoli managed to secure a 2-0 win against new comers Venezia, Completesports reports.

Tyronne Ebuehi who joined Venezia on loan featured from the start before going off in the 51st minute.

Ebuehi’s Nigerian teammate David Okereke was not included in Venezia’s matchday squad as he is yet to be cleared after his transfer.

Osimhen had a promising start to the game as he twice harassed the Venezia goalkeeper and defence into early errors with his pressing.

But in the 23rd minute he was a bit too aggressive when shoving Venezia defender Daan Heymans as they tussled on a corner and the referee opted for a straight red card, considering it to be a punch.

There was even more trouble for Napoli, as Piotr Zielinski pulled up by himself with a suspected thigh strain.

Napoli thought they had found the breakthrough on 57 minutes when Mattia Caldara clumsily used his arm to block a Mario Rui cross in the box.

Lorenzo Insigne stepped up, but tried to lob his penalty into the far top corner, missing the target entirely.

However, Napoli opened scoring on 62 minutes from the penalty spot after Pietro Ceccaroni used his arm to charge down Giovanni Di Lorenzo cross in the area and this time Insigne kept it simple, sending Maenpaa the wrong way.

And in the 73rd minute Napoli doubled their lead with a well-worked move between Hirving Lozano and Insigne, but Ceccaroni’s interception only went as far as Eljif Elmas, who slotted home.

By James Agberebi