The Super Eagles goalkeeper lost on his first two starts for Sparta Rotterdam, but luck finally favoured him in his third appearance
Maduka Okoye was impressive in goal as Sparta Rotterdam ran out 2-0 winners at RKC Waalwijk in their Eredivisie clash on Saturday evening.
Okoye joined Sparta from Fortuna Dusseldorf in the summer, but it was not until a fortnight ago that he made his debut.
The Nigerian international was handed a start in the KNVB Beker Cup penalty shoot-out loss to Ado Den Haag before conceding four goals on his first league start last weekend.
But despite a disappointing start in his first two appearances, he retained his place in Sparta’s goal for the visit to Waalwijk.
And it was a decision that paid off as Okoye played a vital role The Castle Lords 2-0 win over their hosts. The Super Eagles star kept a clean sheet, making four saves in total to deny Waalwijk from scoring.
After a goalless first-half, Lennart Thy put Henk Fraser’s men in the 59th minute, before Abdou Harroui strike in added time made the points safe.
The win lifts Sparta to 13th on the Eredivisie table with six points from eight games.