August 20, (THEWILL) – Life in the Bundesliga is turning out to be very rosy for Union Berlin’s new striker Taiwo Awoniyi after he made the switch from English Premier League side Liverpool as he scored again to help Union make a winning return to European Football with a 4-0 win over Finnish side KuPS.
They were contesting their first leg fixture of the maiden edition of the UEFA Europa Conference League with Union returning to Europe for the first time since 2001. They qualified by reaching the final of the DFB-Pokal, which they won against Turkgucu München with Awoniyi’s assist in the winning goal.
Union registered their presence when a commanding start against the Finnish top-flight side KuPS to easily sail through a first leg that was considered a daunting task especially as their opponents were six-time Finnish champions and currently sit second in the Veikkausliiga, their top flight division.
But, Awoniyi had more than a say in giving the outstanding victory to the German side. He opened the scoring in the 7th minute to give Urs Fischer’s side an early advantage. Union was the more adventurous side and deservedly scored two quick goal around the half hour mark.
The pair of goals had Awoniyi’s hand all over them. He found his strike partner Max Kruse and the German, who scored the winning goal in the DFB-Pokal final through an Awoniyi assist, repeated the feat before Awoniyi added an extra goal less than two minutes later to make it 3-0.
One of the Nigerians in the KuPS defense, Henry Uzochukwu, could not keep Awoniyi at bay and after he was issued a yellow card in the 36th minute, he was replaced by Felipe Aspegren in the second half. Another Nigerian for the Finnish club, striker Aniekpeno Uddoh, came on as a substitute in the 46th minute but could not find the goal for KuPS.
Instead, Union’s Andreas Voglsammer added a fourth in stoppage time to give Die Eisernen a comfortable lead heading into the second leg of the fixture. Their fans are expected to turn out en masse to cheer their leading side to victory even though the match has been moved to the home of Hertha Berlin to meet UEFA’s regulations for stadium safety.
If Awoniyi can continue in this form in Europe and the Bundesliga, it will be a prolific season that will mark him out for more than just Union Berlin in the seasons to come. He has shown that he can continue at this level of goal-scoring with three in three matches and two assists so far.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
