Down 2-0 at halftime at home to Kayserispor in a Turkish Super Lig game last Friday, league leaders Trabzonspor fought back to claim an impressive 3-2 victory to move inches closer to ending the club’s wait for a first league title since 1984.
Nigerian forward Anthony Nwakaeme was at the heart of it all for Trabzonspor, providing an assist to make it 2-2 and then scoring the match-winner late in added time.
Edin Visca had pulled one back for the home side four minutes after the start of the second half with a left-footed strike from inside the box.
Nwakaeme then teed up Djaniny for the equalizer ten minutes later to set up a frantic end to the match. With both teams guilty of missing clear-cut chances, the game was headed for a draw before a Kayserispor player was judged to have handled the ball in the area in the dying minutes. Trabzonspor was awarded a penalty kick. Nwakaeme stepped up to take the spot-kick and he coolly slotted it home to complete the comeback.
Trabzonspor remains in a strong position to secure the Turkish league title for the first time in 38 years. The Black Sea Storm are runaway league leaders on 66 points, 17 more than nearest challengers Konyaspor with 27 matches played.
While Andreas Cornelius, Edin Visca, and Marek Hamsik have shown their class this season, Nwakaeme has been equally good or as important to Trabzonspor’s title charge.
The one-time capped Nigerian international is leading the league in goal contributions (18) with nine goals and as many assists from 21 games. The 32 years old ranks third in assists (9), first in big chances created (13), third in dribbles per match (2.6), fifth in shots per match (1.2), and tenth in key passes per match (2.0) in the league. Impressive numbers.
With Trabzonspor needing 12 more points from their remaining eleven fixtures to be crowned champions, the club’s faithful will be hoping Nwakaeme and Co get this one over the line as quickly as possible.
