Paul Onuachu netted a hat-trick and also provided an assist in Trabzonspor 4-2 home win against Gaziantep in the Turkish Super Lig on Sunday.
Onuachu has scored 12 goals, made four assists in 18 league appearances in his loan spell at Trabzonspor.
Prior to Sunday’s game, the last time he scored was 11 January, 2024, in a 2-1 home win against Samsunspor in a league fixture.
The win against Gaziantep strengthens Trabzonspor Europa League qualification hopes as they are in third place on 58 points.
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Their closest rivals for the Europa League qualification ticket are Istanbul Basaksehir (52 points) and Besiktas (51 points) who are fourth and fifth respectively.
Onuachu started Trabzonspor’s fightback after Gaziantep had taken a 2-0 first half lead.
The 29-year-old Nigerian striker pulled a goal back for Trabzonspor in the 50th minute to make it 2-1.
In the 65th minute Trabzonspor completed the comeback as Onuachu set up Enis Bardhi.
Just one minute after the equaliser, Onuachu grabbed his second goal to make it 3-2.
In the 68th minute he completed his hat-trick to put his side 4-2 ahead.
7 Comments
I ask again, why do our strikers do well in Europe and fail at home? It must be a coaching problem!
How well is Onuachu doing? He scored last in January, so for 3 months he did not score a single goal in lower cadre Turkish league. He was a flop last season with Southampton helping to send Southamton from the Premier league to English championship.
Apart from Victor Osimhen, Lookman and Victor Boniface- Nigerian strikers like Onuachu, Iheanacho, Awoniyi, Umar Sadiq are mediocre.
How many goals did Victor Osimhen score at the last Afcon? You’ll be surprised that the same Victor Boniface who shines under Xabi Alonso’s Total-football (at Leverkusen) will struggle under Peseiro’s 3-6-1 pattern. You talk as though Turkey bad league. Asamoah Gyan was playing for Al Ain while banging goals for Ghana at the World Cup. Patrick Mboma didn’t really play for any big club but he was a terror in Cameroun shirt. Emmanuel Emenike didn’t play for any big club either but he won Afcon top scorer. We have a coaching problem, simple.
Are we creating chances?If we aren’t then I will agree there’s coaching problem.
Awoniyi is mediocre?? LOL- go and look up the meaning of mediocre in the dictionary and then come back here and read what you wrote here, if you don’t know the meaning of a word, it’s not by force to try and use it – If you say Iheanacho, Sadiq, Onuachu etc are mediocre, I would have said yes, currently they are – but you ruined it by adding Awo’s name, you either are stuntin’ or have not seen him play lately – which to be fair no one has as he has been injured.
Awo is one of our very best strikers if not the best – mark these words!
He is not bad if he has service to work with.
He is behind the likes of Osimhen, Boni, Lookman and Orban in the pecking order, but that doesn’t mean he is no good. He has goals in him if the service he needs is provided.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzcUOXTIxbc
Onuachu is an exceptional quality finisher.
For the Super Eagles, coaches Rohr, Eguavoen and particularly Peseiro require more of a marauder or better still, a marauding-finisher than just a finisher which is why Onuachu has struggled to nail down a slot in Nigeria colours.
It will always be tough for him in the Super Eagles to be honest. Unless the coach and players are willing to coalesce around putting it on a plate for Onuachu, Hasslers like Osihmen, Awoniyi and even Dessers will always be preferred.
Funny thing is that Onuachu too is a hassler. He was used predominantly as a later-stages nuisance by Peseiro in the the last afcon to come in in dying minutes to win fouls, hold up play and help wind down the clock, to the annoyance of our oppositions – and he performed this role with aplomb.
But the general consensus is that players like Iheanacho and Dessers would have performed this nuisance role with class, eloquence and even with credible goal threat which Onuachu failed to conjure.
However, at the end of the day, the role of a centre forward is to score goals and this is something Onuachu is more than capable of doing in Super Eagles colours if the set-up is one that allows him to thrive.