Sports News of Monday, 4 January 2021

Source: goal.com

Nwakaeme and Ekuban score as Trabzonspor see off Fatih Karagumruk

Ekuban scored for Trabzonspor Ekuban scored for Trabzonspor

Anthony Nwakaeme and Caleb Ekuban found the back of the net in Trabzonspor’s 2-1 victory over Fatih Karagumruk in Sunday’s Turkish Super Lig game.

Nwakaeme was handed his 12th league start and delivered a fine performance to help the Black Sea Storm clinch their sixth win of the season.

The Nigeria international has been in sizzling form since he teamed up with the Medical Park Stadyumu outfit in the summer of 2018.

The forward has registered 21 league goals in his last two seasons for the Black Sea Storm and against Fatih Karagumruk he notched his fourth goal of the 2020-21 campaign.

Ekuban, meanwhile, was afforded his 10th league appearance and utilized the opportunity to increase his goal tally to four.

The game started with both sides aiming to outwit each other but despite their efforts, the first half ended 0-0.

Moments after the restart of the match, Nwakaeme broke the deadlock, firing a fine strike past goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano after he was set up by Serkan Asan.

Jure Balkovec then levelled proceedings for Fatih Karagumruk with an individual effort and with nine minutes before the end of the encounter, Ghana international Ekuban scored the winning goal.

Nwakaeme featured for the duration of the game while Ekuban made way for Kamil Corekci in the 90th minute.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo international and on-loan Stoke City forward Benik Afobe played for seven minutes after replacing Abdulkadir Parmak.

Senegal international Badou Ndiaye, also on loan from Stoke, featured for the duration of the game but could help Fatih Karagumruk avoid defeat.

With the victory, Trabzonspor moved to the seventh spot on the Super Lig table after gathering 23 points from 16 games.

Nwakaeme and Ekuban will be expected to continue their impressive performances in front of goal when the Black Sea Storm take on Goztepe in their next league outing on January 6.

Nwakaeme has only made one appearance for the Nigeria national team despite his consistent club performances.

The forward will hope to get a recall for the Super Eagles in their next 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.