Super Eagles stars Ibrahim Olawoyin and Henry Onyekuru. Photos by IMAGO
It was a night of contrasting fortunes for Super Eagles stars as Ibrahim Olawoyin and Henry Onyekuru lined up on opposite sides in Tuesday’s Turkish Süper Lig clash between Çaykur Rizespor and Gençlerbirliği, Soccernet.ng reports.
Olawoyin, lively during his 62 minutes on the pitch, helped Rizespor secure a dramatic 1-0 victory.
For Onyekuru, however, the evening will be remembered for all the wrong reasons after he spurned a last-gasp chance to rescue his side.
The former Galatasaray forward, who returned to Turkey this summer following a spell in Saudi Arabia, came on as an 83rd-minute substitute with the game finely poised.
Neither team had managed a win this season, and Gençlerbirliği were desperate to avoid sinking deeper into crisis after four consecutive defeats.
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The match appeared to be drifting toward a stalemate until Emrecan Bulut struck in the third minute of stoppage time to put Rizespor ahead.
Just when the home crowd thought the drama was over, Gençlerbirliği were awarded a penalty in the ninth added minute. Onyekuru stepped up, only to see his effort saved, condemning his club to a fifth straight defeat.
The result leaves Gençlerbirliği as the only side without a single point in the league this season, the worst start to a Süper Lig campaign in their history.
It also compounds the struggles of manager Hüseyin Eroğlu, who has now gone 10 top-flight games without a win across stints with Samsunspor and Gençlerbirliği. His record reads one draw and nine defeats.
For Gençlerbirliği, back in the Süper Lig after four years in the lower divisions, the unwanted milestone is particularly painful.
Their previous worst start came in the 1992–93 season, when they lost four straight matches before finally picking up a point. This time, the run has stretched to five, plunging the Ankara-based side into early relegation fears.
Next up, Gençlerbirliği host Eyüpspor in Week 6, desperately seeking to end their nightmare start. For Onyekuru, whose career has seen him lift the Süper Lig title with Galatasaray, the hope will be that this miss is quickly forgotten.