Chukwueze stars in fine Villarreal win, Union’s Awoniyi caged in Bielefeld

The Nigerian forwards gave their best for their respective clubs, but they were not among the goals

Samuel Chukwueze delivered an excellent performance to help power Villarreal to a comprehensive 4-1 away win at Granada in a matchday 25 Spanish La Liga clash on Saturday. 

Villarreal led two-nil at halftime thanks to a brace from Lagos-born Arnaut Danjuma. But Luis Milla reduced the deficit for the home side on the hour-mark before Chukwueze came off the bench to replace Yeremi Pino a minute after.

And the Super Eagles star became a thorn in Granada’s flesh for the next half hour. Chukwueze saw his goal-bound shot blocked by the hand of defender Raul Torrente Navarro for which the referee awarded Villarreal a penalty. And Danjuma stepped up expertly to complete his hat-trick.

Still, Chukwueze was not done, and the former FIFA U-17 World Cup winner had a hand again in his side’s fourth goal of the afternoon.

Bringing the ball forward following a dangerous attack, Chukwueze threaded the ball beautifully through the Granada defence for Moi Gómez to slide the ball home with his right foot.

The victory lifts Villarreal to fifth on the league table, levelled on points with Barcelona, a team that has, however, played two fewer games.

Elsewhere in Germany, Taiwo Awoniyi continues his search for his first Bundesliga goal of the year as Arminia Bielefeld carved out a narrow 1-0 win over visiting Union Berlin on Saturday.

Japanese attacking ace Masaya Okugawa got the only goal of the encounter eight minutes into the second half.

Awoniyi lasted for 75 minutes on the pitch, but he was unable to add to his nine Bundesliga goals this term. The 24-year-old has not hit the back of the net for the Irons since scoring in a 2-1 defeat of Leipzig on December 3rd.

It would be recalled, though, that the former Liverpool signing scored for the Super Eagles in the 3-1 win over Sudan’s Falcons in January during the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.