Barely twenty-four hours after being ignored by Nigerian national team head coach Gernot Rohr for Super Eagles’ upcoming Afcon qualifying matches against Sierra Leone, Anthony Nwakaeme, Cyriel Dessers, and Paul Onuachu had a hand in six goals for their clubs on Friday night, Soccernet.ng reports.
Nwakaeme contributed all of Tranzonspor’s three goals at the Medical Park Stadium in Trabzon. Still, a late fight-back from Kasimpasa saw the visitors claim an unlikely 3-4 win over Eddie Newton’s side.
Nwakaeme scored twice and supplied an assist, but it was not enough as Trabzonspor suffered their fought defeat in a row.
The 32-year-old Nigerian forward assisted Serkan Asan’s 23rd-minute goal to cancel Michael Tirpan’s eighth-minute opener for Kasimpasa. Nwakaeme then scored two goals in seven minutes to push the hosts to a 3-1 lead.
But Kasimpasa struck to reduce the deficit just before the interval through Yusuf Erdoğan. An Edgar Miguel Ié’s own goal brought the game back on levelled terms before Bengali Fode Koita’s strike deep into injury time edged the thriller in Kasimpasa’s favour.
In Belgium, the Super Eagles duo of Paul Onuachu and Cyriel Dessers found the back of the net as Genk hit visiting AS Eupen 4-0 at the Luminus Arena.
Onuachu converted a fifth-minute penalty to set the tone of the evening. The 2.01m tall forward then provided the final ball for his strike-partner Dessers to double the hosts’ advantage shortly after the interval.
A further brace from Theo Bongonda secured a comfortable victory for Genk, who have now won their last three games.
Despite their excellent form, the trio of Nwakaeme, Onuachu, and Dessers will not be available when Nigeria take on Sierra Leone in Benin on November 13.
Head coach Gernot Rohr has instead invited Ahmed Musa, Alex Iwobi, Emmanuel Dennis Bonaventure, and Moses Simon for the back-to-back Afcon qualifying clashes.
Villarreal’s Samuel Chukwueze, Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho, and CSKA Moscow’s Chidera Ejuke are the other attackers called up by the German tactician.
