Despite Paul Onuachu’s forced exit from Southampton’s 3-2 loss to Liverpool on Sunday, Southampton coach Russell Martin has allayed concerns that the Super Eagles attacker had a major injury, according to Soccernet.ng. When Southampton hosted Liverpool at the St. Mary’s on Sunday, Onuachu made his first Premier League appearance of the year.
With a strong performance, the Nigerian striker demonstrated his value. He had more dribbles than the whole Liverpool team in the first half. Due to Liverpool’s persistent pressure on Southampton, Onuachu also contributed to the defense. Unfortunately for him, a poor tackle by Darwin Nunez appeared to have injured him, and he was substituted out in the 58th minute of play. There were concerns that Onuachu had suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) damage as he went down holding his knee. Russell Martin, the manager of Southampton, claimed following the match that Onuachu might not have been hurt but rather was just exhausted.
Given how well he’s trained, Paul most likely deserved to start earlier. I hope his injury is not too serious because he was extremely good. Martin remarked, “I thought he played really, really well, but it’s just a little bit of fatigue.” Martin will definitely be thinking about Onuachu’s performance against Liverpool on Sunday. The Super Eagles star can see a big increase in playing time after that performance.
