Union Berlin may have suffered their second defeat in the Europa Conference League at Feyenoord on Thursday but Taiwo Awoniyi continued his scoring run in the Netherlands—his fifth goal in four games.
The Super Eagle halved the deficit just before half-time to leave the Iron Ones with a fighting chance of levelling in Rotterdam. By the time the Dutch side had made it three with 15 minutes to play, Urs Fischer had taken off the striker.
Perhaps, with this weekend’s clash at Stuttgart in mind, the Union boss replaced Awoniyi and Max Kruse, seemingly prioritizing the Bundesliga encounter on Sunday evening.
Keeping his primary frontmen on for just over an hour, the hope is they recover in time to face Stuttgart on Sunday as Union hope to end a poor run of form at the Mercedes-Bank Arena.
Both sides have faced off three times — in the Bundesliga and bottom-tier — with the Iron Ones never beating this weekend’s opponents on their ground.
That may be likely to change, with Awoniyi in the form of his life and the Iron Ones better placed to do what has been elusive since their first visit to Stuttgart in April 2017.
The Nigerian has netted six domestic goals in just eight games, matching his tally from the last two seasons in the division combined. On Sunday evening, the former Liverpool man could surpass that haul altogether if he nets again.
It’s what Fischer will be counting on, despite their four-game winning streak in all competitions coming to an end in Rotterdam on Thursday.
Union are on a three-game winning run in the Bundesliga, matching their best streak for the third time since gaining promotion in 2019. Another success at a ground they’ve never picked up maximum points will be their fourth victory on the spin, something they’ve never managed in two seasons.
While Awoniyi’s teammates also need to take up the gauntlet on Sunday, the in-form striker will back himself to do what he does best as Union chase a couple of elusive feats at Mercedes-Benz Arena.
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Seye Omidiora is a passionate football writer and pundit whose deep appreciation for the beautiful game exceeds the usual. He is currently a columnist for Goal Africa and has previously written for Vital Football UK, IBCity Info and Opera News.
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