October 03, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s Taiwo Awoniyi scored twice to give 1. FC Union Berlin their 100th Bundesliga goal and a comeback 2-1 win over Mainz on Sunday.
Awoniyi scored two goals in four second-half minutes to turn the game around after Marcus Ingvartsen’s first-half opener for Mainz.
In a tightly contested first half, there was nothing to choose between the two teams. Union’s Max Kruse launched a long-range warning shot before Mainz’s Anderson Lucoqui guided a back-post strike comfortably wide. Awoniyi absolutely fluffed his lines in an attempt to turn home Kruse’s cross between the two openings.
Marcus Ingvartsen stroked a brilliant first-time finish past Andreas Luthe to give Mainz the half-time lead against his parent club.
Union emerged from the tunnel with a much more focused approach to their game. Kruse missed a 20-yard shot before setting up Awoniyi for the equaliser. After barreling past David Nemeth, the former Liverpool striker, who also spent time on loan at Mainz, finished with aplomb from inside the box in the 69th minute. Robin Zentner got a hand to the strike and will feel he should have done better.
The Nigerian doubled his tally four minutes later in an almost carbon copy of his first.
Late on, Karim Onisiwo and Moussa Niakhate came agonisingly close to tying the game, but Mainz, who were reduced to ten men in additional time after Domink Kohr received his second yellow card, were unable to avoid a third consecutive defeat.
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.
