BEVERLY HILLS, May 02, (THEWILL) – In a league campaign where Nigerian forward Simeon Tochukwu Nwankwo, who plays as striker for Serie A side, Crotone, has literally represented most of what was brilliant about the side, it is unfortunate that the team has mathematically been relegated from Serie A after two late goals on Saturday dragged them out of the top flight less than a year since winning promotion.
The two-goal loss to League leaders, Inter Milan, which more or less won the title for Antonio Conte’s charges, implies that Serse Cosmi’s Crotone drops to Serie B as they are 13 points off safety with only four matches left in the league for the 2020/2021 season.
Nwankwo’s standout season may end on the sour note of this relegation story but the striker, simply referred to as “Simy”, who produced a goal-scoring feat the entire campaign, was incessantly let down by a mediocre defense and inconsistent midfield-to-attack advancement of the Crotone squad.
This sentiment was echoed in the postmortem remarks of Cosmi after the loss to Inter confirmed their relegation. Speaking frankly, the manager took a moment to reflect on the impossibility of the task he inherited: “I was brought in to euthanise the team. It’s disappointing because this team has quality, and we showed that again today.”
Cosmi was handed the responsibility of managing the struggling side after former manager, Giovanni Stroppa, was fired on Monday, March 1. He immediately got a taste of what he was up against when his debut match against free-scoring Atalanta ended with a thorough 5-1 trouncing at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo.
In that match, Simy announced his talents to the new boss by drawing Crotone level after they had gone behind early in the game and both sides went into the break one goal apiece. But, in typical Crotone fashion, they fell apart in the second half, packing four extra goals in their travel back home.
That has defined their season and is the reason they have been relegated. After Atalanta, Cosmi’s charges managed two wins over Torino, helped by Simy’s brace, and Parma, with another Simy double playing a part in the victory, plus seven defeats, all of which Simy’s name was on the scoresheet if Crotone scored a goal and sometimes double, if Crotone scored more than one goal.
Inter came to Crotone’s Stadio Ezio Scida needing the victory to potentially win the title this weekend, which will be confirmed in Atalanta’s trip to Sassuolo. Should the Black and Blues lose to Sassuolo, the Scudetto will have well and truly returned to the warm embrace of the man who began and is now ending the unbroken nine multiple title-clinching run at Juventus: Conte.
Although, Inter found the hosts slightly tougher to break down than expected given Crotone’s poor form and rock bottom status in the league, champion striker Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez were denied by the woodwork with Inter pressing harder for victory. At the other end, attempts by Simy and strike partner Adam Ounas were just as unsuccessful.
The hosts put up a good challenge against the leaders but, folded in the final stages to a deflected Christian Eriksen strike and last-gasp Achraf Hakimi counter-attack to take the wind out of Crotone’s sails and sink them down to the lower division.
When Cosmi was queried post-match about his future, the Crotone manager had conditions to keep him on the side through relegation in Serie B: “I have always said that I want to wait until the end of the season. What I don’t want is to basically be brought in to euthanise a team, which is what the job was here when I arrived.
“I want to compete and challenge in a different way. I have to admit, it’s all a bit frustrating, as I think we could’ve all experienced something different here this season, even if I only experienced a part of it.”
THEWILL believes that Simy ought to ask himself some tough questions also, about his future and decide whether that future has Crotone in it. At 28, with a low-to-mid range football team, he was able to find the net 19 times out of 34 appearances and that is a consistency not many strikers can reach.
To put that into perspective, Inter’s Romelu Lukaku, one of the most recognised strikers in the Serie A, because of his devastating form in front of goal has managed only 21 goals in 33 appearances for the champions-in-waiting, while his competing AC Milan Swede forward, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who spent some time on the injury sideline had 15 goals from 18 appearances.
Simy’s prolific goal-scoring will be of greater benefits to a side that can shore up their defense to make it count to the point where the Nigerian’s name will ring a bell across the European football landscape to bring him the recognition he truly deserves.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
