Duro Ikhazuagbe
Nigerian international, Paul Onuachu was quick off the mark for Trabzonspor to win 4-2 in Finland in the UEFA Conference League.
The giant Super Eagles striker scored after just three minutes against KuPS after he was set up by Mohamed Salah. Onuachu latched onto Salah’s first time pass before holding off his marker and tucking the ball away beyond the reach of Johannes Kreidl in goal for the Finnish side.
He was rated a decent 7.8 points by Sofascore. It was an opening day win for the Turkish team.
However, the joy of the Nigeria gangling star turned sadness as barely 10 minutes of the game, he was forced out through injury.
Trabzonspor eventually won the encounter to remain on top of the league.
Elsewhere in the Europa Conference’s League, Cyriel Dessers converted a penalty kick as Panathinaikos claimed a 2-1 victory over Borac Banja Luka in the opening game of the of the UEFA Conference League.
The win has pushed Panathinaikos to an excellent home record that has seen them go undefeated in 10 out of 11 last games in this competition, losing only to Chelsea.
Former Kelechi Iheanacho’s Scottish club, Celtic, slumped to a fourth defeat in five matches as Benfica swept to a comprehensive Europa League victory in Lisbon.
Former Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran’s double and Alexander Bah’s volley put Marco Silva’s side 3-0 up at half-time as a ramshackle Celtic were picked apart time and time again.
The Scottish champions were fortunate not to be further behind, but improved after the break and pulled one back through Camilo Duran’s brave header.
Martin O’Neill’s outfit pushed for a second goal that would have given them hope, but Duran struck a post with a left-footed drive and Callum Osmand had a shot well saved by home goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.
However, in the closing stages, Benfica added further gloss to the scoreline as substitute Vangelis Pavlidis scuffed a shot past the flat-footed Viljami Sinisalo.
Benfica are third in the standings with two wins from two, while Celtic are 34th of 36 teams after two losses.