A revelation has emerged over reasons behind the absence of Trabzonspor of Turkey striker, Anthony Nwakaeme from action last weekend in the Turkish Super Lig, as the medical director at his club says the former Super Eagles’ invitee is down with a hamstring injury.
Nwakaeme was conspicuously missing in his team’s latest Super Lig game, thereby raising thick eyebrows among his teeming fans, but the medic at Trabzonspor has now disclosed that the former captain of Vejle Football Academy in Lagos is still fighting to overcome a knock he copped in their previous match.
Megasportsarena.com reports that Nwakaeme was subsequently out of the spotlight on a weekend Racing Genk of Belgium striker, Paul Ebere Onuachu made it another Sunday to remember, as he notched home his 29th goal of the season.
It was also a weekend that saw a brace of goals from Karim Adeyemi in Austria and Kelechi Iheanacho in the English Premier League, while Victor Osimhen scored one for SSC Napoli of Italy, Joe Aribo netted for Glasgow Rangers of Scotland and Terem Moffi also hit target in the French Ligue 1.
In Austria, 19-year-old Adeyemi got off the bench to strike target twice, as RB Salzburg recorded a 3-0 away victory over Rapid Wien in Sunday’s Austrian Bundesliga outing, during which the German youth international went on for Mergim Berisha in the 74th minute.
Salzburg’s breakthrough came when their coach, Jesse Marsch threw the Nigerian-born duo of Noah Okafor and Adeyemi into the fray, but it was the latter that stood out brightly with two well-taken goals in the closing minutes of the encounter.
Boasting of six consecutive wins in all competitions this season, Salzburg travelled to the Allianz Stadium to face Dietmar Kuhbauer’s men, who put eight past Wolfsberger AC last time out, but Adeyemi’s brace in the closing stages of the tie made a world of difference for Marsch’s side.
In France, left-footed Moffi got on the scoresheet at Stade Bollaert-Delelis, but he could not save FC Lorient from losing 4-1 to RC Lens in the French Ligue 1, with goals from Corentin Jean, Arnaud Kalimuendo-Muinga and Simon Banza condemning his side to defeat.
Gael Kakuta gave the home team the lead from the spot in the 16th minute but Moffi brought the game back to parity in the 29th minute and the former Golden Eaglets’ invitee, who now has nine goals in 26 league appearances, is just one goal away from reaching the double-digit.
Though he earlier fired blanks in his last seven games in the division prior to the trip to Lens, Moffi contributed two assists in games against Lille Metropole and Stade Brest during his barren run, before popping back into the headlines on Sunday.
In Belgium, Onuachu made the best of his 30th league start to help Genk extend their unbeaten run with a 4-0 victory over St.Truiden in the Belgian First Division A game at Luminus Arena and his side maintain second spot on the log with 56 points from 33 games.
Onuachu, who has now scored 29 goals in 34 appearances across all competitions this season, including 27 in the Belgian top-flight, spearheaded Genk’s attack in the encounter and his effort was just effort was enough to seal the win that extended their unbeaten run to seven games.
His strike seven minutes into the second half of Sunday’s match compounded the misery of Sint-Truiden and the lanky striker has now scored in four consecutive matches, including his efforts on international duty off the bench in Nigeria’s wins against Benin Republic and Lesotho.
The former FC Midtjylland of Denmark hitman has now netted 31 goals combined for Genk and the Super Eagles since the season started, while also helping his club consolidate second place in the standings, with 13 points from a possible 15 of their last five games.
In Turkey, the story was different, as Nwakaeme was absent from the field of play, because he is still battling hard to recover from a muscle strain that necessitated his substitution during the second half of Trabzonspor’s 1-1 draw with Kayserispor last Tuesday.
Consequently, the former Super Eagles’ invitee and ex-Hapoel Be’er Sheva of Israel top scorer ended up missing Trabzonspor’s Turkish Super Lig clash with Rizespor, four days after he made hay with a game-tying assist in the 29th minute to help his team salvage a draw.
A medical bulletin by Trabzonspor’s medical director, Dr. Hakan çelik confirmed the physical condition of Nwakaeme and revealed the club’s efforts to revive the striker, who has scored six goals and provided seven assists in 27 league games so far this term.
Celik expatiated: “Muscle strain and edema were detected in the MRI of Anthony Nwakaeme, who left the game due to the pain he felt in the back muscle of his right thigh, and the treatment of our football player was started.”
