Racing Genk of Belgium striker, Paul Ebere Onuachu signaled his intention to resume firing goals with reckless abandon this season, as he notched one against Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers.
After suffering a blight and loss of relevance during pre-season, as he appeared bugged down by speculation over a summer transfer deal to England, the former FC Midtjylland of Denmark giant finally buried his woes and opened scoring for Genk in the 39th minute.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, although Onuachu was later on replaced by his Nigerian compatriot, Cyriel Dessers in the 82nd minute, he had done enough to show that he could be on the march towards another run of goals.
He netted 35 in the past season to emerge top scorer in the Belgian Jupiler League, while also winning the most valuable player award and was named best African player on the scene.
The signs of him replicating those feats were signaled on Tuesday night, as Onuachu marked his return to action with a goal, after he had been dropped for last weekend’s Belgian League game after a difficult run in pre-season.
Onuachu had been rated ‘out of sorts’ and ‘not ready’ for Genk’s home game against KV Oostende, hence his omission in the encounter, but his goal on Tuesday was not enough to fetch Genk victory at home, as their visitors equalized after the hour mark.
Donetsk then went on to snatch a winner in the closing minutes, thereby putting themselves in good stead ahead of the return leg, which will be played in Ukraine next week, and the overall winners of this third qualifying round will enter a play-off for a place in the group stage.
