Awoniyi, Akpoguma Enter Scorers’ Chart In German Bundesliga

FC Union Berlin of Germany striker, Taiwo Awoniyi took his goals’ haul for the new season in the German Bundesliga to four in his last three games and helped The Iron Ones extend their unbeaten run to 11 in all competitions.

While Super Eagles’ rookie defender, Kevin Akpoguma also scored at the opposing end, Awoniyi was Union Berlin’s undisputed hero of the evening, as he grabbed the equalizer in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with TSG Hoffenheim.

Megasportsarena.com reports that both teams entered the encounter on the back of 4-0 victories last time out, when the hosts hit Augsburg for four and Union silenced Kups by the same margin in Europe.

That explained why the match got off to an electric start at Rhein-Neckar Arena, where the visiting side drew first blood ten minutes in, when Julian Ryerson’s cross was headed past goalkeeper Oliver Baumann by Niko Giesselmann.

That lead did not last as Nigeria international Kevin Apoguma – who was left unmarked – headed home Angelo Stiller’s cross.

On the half-hour mark, Die Kraichgauer completed their turnaround to take the lead courtesy of Jacob Larsen and, this time, it was Andrej Kramaric who turned provider.

Two minutes into the second half, Awoniyi restored parity after he was teed up by Max Kruse. His initial strike was saved by Baumann but he could not stop the rebound for Awoniyi’s fourth goal in three games.

Although Hoffenheim dominated possession for the remainder of the game, they failed to get the important third as they missed the chance to go top of the German top-flight log.

After an impressive shift, Awoniyi was subbed off for Andreas Voglsamm with 20 minutes left on the clock. Whereas, his compatriots Anthony Ujah and Suleiman Abdullahi did not make the matchday squad.

For Hoffenheim, they had Nigeria international Akpoguma in action from start to finish with Mali’s Diadie Samassekou coming in for Sebastian Rudy in the 80th minute.

Also in Germany on Sunday, Kingsley Ehizibue provided an assist for FC Cologne’s second goal in their 3-2 loss to Bayern Munich, and his efforts were not enough to save The Billy Goats from suffering their first loss of the season.

After a goalless first 45 minutes, Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring for the hosts five minutes into second half, thanks to an assist from Jamal Musiala.

Shortly thereafter, Serge Gnabry doubled Bayern Munich’s lead in the 58th minute but Cologne responded immediately with Anthony Modeste halving the deficit on the hour-mark.

Two minutes later, Marc Uth gave the Billy Goats hope of picking up an away point, after slotting home a cross from Ehizibue.

The outing at Allianz Arena was Ehizibue’s first start of the season, after going on as an 84th-minute substitute against Hertha Berlin last Saturday, and the 26-year-old defender made his mark with a cross for Uth to finish, which put them level at 2-2 in the 62nd minute.

However, Gnabry dashed such hopes after grabbing his second goal in the encounter in the 71st minute which secured all three points for Bayern Munich.

Ehizibue, who was in action for the entire duration, completed the third-most tackles (three) after Tunisia midfielder Ellyes Skhiri (seven) and Florian Kainz (five), and he also made the joint-most clearances (five) with Rafael Czichos.