It was a rain of goals again this weekend for Nigerian players in Europe, as Paul Ebere Onuachu, Taiwo Awoniyi and David Chidozie Okereke showed the stuff strikers are made off, while two defenders, Godfrey Oboabona and Zaidu Sanusi proved their mettle as well, megasportsarena.com reports.
It turned out to be a battle between Nigerian strikers and defenders, with Awoniyi and Okereke leading the way on Saturday for the men up front, while Onuachu hit target the following day, after Sanusi and Oboabona also got in among the scorers on another weekend of soccer thrills all across Europe.
In Germany, Awoniyi scored his second goal for Union Berlin, but his side suffered a 3-1 loss in their derby away to Hertha Berlin, in just his fifth start of the campaign, and the lad on loan from Liverpool of England led the line alongside Max Kruse for the visitors.
Awoniyi broke the deadlock after 20 minutes when he hit a shot past Alexander Schwolow following an assist from Marcus Ingvarsten to make it 1-0, but the evening went sour for the visitors three minutes later as they were reduced to 10 men following a straight red card to Robert Andries.
A man up and a goal down, the hosts made two quick substitutes at the break and deservedly pulled level moments later when Peter Prakarik converted, following which Awoniyi was taken off as Union Berlin’s crew tried some damage control afterwards, but two further quick-fire goals from Piatez gave them their second defeat of the campaign.
In Romania, Oboabona scored his second goal in Erovnuli Liga to help Dinamo Batumi register a 2-1 road win against Torpedo Kutaisi at the Ramaz Shengelias Sakhelobis Stadioni on Saturday, as the former Super Eagles’ stopper struck 11 minutes into the contest.
The former Sunshine Stars of Akure skipper opened the scoring for George Geguchadze’s team with a header following a corner, as Oboabona added to his first goal in Batunmi colours, which came in another away game, a 3-1 win at FC Telavi on October 2.
In Portugal, Zaidu Sanusi made hay for C Porto, as his side battled CD Tondela in a seven-goal thriller at Estádio do Dragão on Saturday night, with the Portuguese champions winning by the odd goal.
Sanusi opened his account for Porto in the Primeira Liga when he broke the deadlock with a left-footed strike from inside the box in the fourth minute after a swift counter-attacking move, as the Super Eagles’ left-back added to his other goal against Olympique Marseille of France in the UEDA Champions League eleven days earlier.
Mario González and Rafael Barbosa got on the scoresheet to put the visitors 2-1 up but Moussa Marega’s goal ensured it was level at the break, but Porto soon went ahead at 4-2 with goals from Marega and Taremi, before Mario González pulled one back to make the last 16 minutes uncomfortable for Sanusi’s side
In his 12th appearance across all competitions for Porto, Sanusi got 90 minutes action for the eighth time this season, and he and his teammates will now turn attention on Olympiakos of Greece in the Champions League on Wednesday.
In Belgium, Onuachu grabbed his third brace of the season for Racing Genk, while fellow-Nigerian striker, Cyriel Dessers also scored in their side’s 4-2 victory over Royal Antwerp in a Belgian First Division A game on Sunday at Luminus Arena.
The 26-year-old Onuachu got his 12th start in 14 league appearances and scored his second consecutive brace of goals, having netted the first set against Mechelen in September and last weekend delivered similar performances against Cercle Brugge before registering his third at Luminus Arena.
The towering striker’s effort helped John van den Brom’s men extend their unbeaten run to 10 games, even as Genk found themselves on the back foot as early as the third minute when Koji Miyoshi opened scoring for Antwerp.
Onuachu brought his side back into contention when he leveled proceedings with a fine strike in the 19th minute after receiving a timely pass from Daniel Munoz and then completed his brace in the 23rd minute with his 14th goal of the season, following which he bowed out for Dessers in the 82nd minute and the sub sealed Genk’s victory six minutes after his introduction.
Besides his 14 goals, Onuachu has also provided one assist in the current campaign to help Genk maintain their top spot on the league table with 31 points from 15 games, as he continues shining with the team he joined in the summer of 2019 from FC Midtjylland of Denmark
Also in Belgium, Okereke took his tally for the season to two goals with a match-winning strike in the 57th minute of Club Brugge’s 1-0 win against Sint-Truiden, just three minutes after he replaced fellow-Nigerian attacker, Emmanuel Dennis Bonaventure.
Okereke took advantage of Sint-Truiden defenders’ failure to track his run into the box, allowing him to slot past goalkeeper Daniel Schmidt, which was a huge welcome relief for the former Spezia of Italy striker-cum-winger, who last scored in the Belgian top-flight league against Waasland-Beveren on September 12.
However, Brugge’s coach, Philippe Clement warned Okereke not to get carried away and tasked the dreadlocks-wearing lad to continue working hard, even as he hailed the youngster for getting the much-desired match winner against Truiden.
Saturday’s home win helped the defending champions regain leadership of the Belgian league for, courtesy Okereke’s second goal of the season and Clement enthused that there is hope of better days ahead for him, after an indifferent run this season, but the gaffer had always been supportive of the all-action lad, who is now being played as a winger, no longer as top striker.
Clement declared: “David certainly scored points tonight (Saturday). You saw that he was better in the match and chose much better positions than (Emmanuel) Dennis. He was better in his duels and chose his moments well.
“Okereke also started several attacks. He put in a good performance but, as a trainer, you naturally look at the whole match. You don’t look at one moment, also at the training sessions, the next matches. But today was hopeful. He has to carry on like this.”
