Mathias Oyewusi sees red as Zalgiris suffer Europa League obliteration

The Nigerian had played more than 50 games for the Green Whites before he was finally dismissed

Mathias Oyewusi was shown the first red card of his Zalgiris Vilnius career after he was lashed out at towards the end of Thursday’s 5-0 Europa League defeat to BK Hacken.

In the five-goal thriller, the Nigerian had been booked on the stroke of half time. Nevertheless, he was given the marching orders with five minutes left on the clock by referee Antonio Nobre.

It was the first red card Oyewusi has ever received as a Zalgiris player, coming in his 69th appearance for the club.

The incident capped a frustrating evening for the Lithuanian topflight giants as they crashed out of the European competition on a 8-1 aggregate loss.

A second half brace from Ghana’s Ibrahim Sadiq, Srdan Hrstic, Samuel Gustafson and Momodou Sonko inspired that defeat inside Bravida Arena.

Though the forward was sent off for the first time with Zalgiris, it was not the first red of his professional career.

His other red cards came during his spell at Slovenian outfit ND Bilje.

With this setback, Zalgiris will now shift attention to A Lyga – where they would be aiming to emerge as champions for the fourth consecutive time.

The Green Whites are presently second in the log, though six points back of leaders Panevezys having played one game more. They are guests of Dainava on Sunday at the Alytus Stadium.

Oyewusi boasts 15 goals in 21 league outings for Zalgris – a feat that places him in pole position to emerge as top scorer.

Born in Jos, the fleet-footed striker is eligible to represent the Nigeria senior national team at international level.