Nigerian striker, Taiwo Awoniyi, has been named in the German Bundesliga Team of The Week for matchday 7 after scoring 2 goals in Union Berlin’s 2-1 win over Mainz on Sunday.
The Super Eagle star scored twice in four minutes as Union came from behind to beat 10-man Mainz at the MEWA Arena handing his high flying side their third win of the season, taking 12 points from seven game.
In a 4-3-3 formation, the Nigerian was paired with Bayer Leverkusen’s Patrik Schick and Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Breel Embolo. There was no space for Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski who failed to score as his side suffered a 2-1 loss to Frankfurt at the Allianz Arena.
In midfield, Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku, Cologne’s Ellyes Skhiri and Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz made the cut while Dortmund’s Raphael Guerreiro, Stuttgart’s Marc-Oliver Kempf, Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol and Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong are in defence.
Mönchengladbach’s Yann Sommer is in goal after an impressive performance in their 3-1 win over Wolfsburg.
However, Mainz 05 Sports Director, Christian Heidel, says he is disappointed his team failed to sign in-form Nigerian striker, Taiwo Awoniyi, from Liverpool despite their effort to do so.
The Nigerian endured a torrid time during his loan spell at Mainz in the 2019/20 season scoring just once in 12 league appearances and was not the favored striker by Achim Beierlorzer.
Awoniyi was on loan at Union in the 2020/21 season on loan from Liverpool but despite scoring just 5 goals in 22 appearances in all competition in a season plagued by injuries, the German side had seen enough of his talent as they splashed €6.5m to sign him on a permanent basis.
Despite his difficult time at the club, Heidel said they would have loved to sign the Nigerian but due to financial constraints and Liverpool’s failure to grant them a discount.
“I’ve always liked him. As you have seen, rightly, ”Heidel said about Awoniyi.
“It was on the market, but we couldn’t finance it, we talked about him, but I didn’t get a discount,” Heidel added.
Awoniyi has scored eight goals in 12 appearances across all competitions with five of them coming in the league from seven appearances while providing two assists.