No better stage for Paul Onuachu to score his 50th goal for KRC Genk than on the European one. In Vienna, he scored the winner in the last minute through a technically perfect finish with his left foot. We've written about this here before: ‘Name it, and he does it.’
Paul Onuachu continues to make history for KRC Genk. And we are certainly delighted about it. In recent weeks, we have seen some impressive performances from Paul, near-complete performances: always available to receive the ball, controlled on the ball, with a clear view of everything, technically excellent. He also showed that technique in his finish against Rapid. Junya Ito's cross was great, but it still needed some work to turn it into a goal. The nudge just before contact, the control of the ball with an open left foot, and the arrow-like trajectory that the ball followed until it hit the net, right in the corner of the Vienna goal: sometimes football is like art. Don't try it at home, because chances are you'll have to go and find the ball from the neighbours' two streets away.
50 goals in 78 games: how, where and when
Onuachu needed 78 games to reach the 50-goal landmark. He scored his goals in 41 different matches. And the goals have come in every possible manner. Last Sunday, he converted his tenth penalty as a Genkie. A perfect record from the spot: 10 out of 10, they all went in, in various forms. The 40 non-penalty goals have also been nicely distributed. Paul has scored 17 times with his head, 13 with his right foot and 10 with his left. Clever and hard, curled or placed, chipped, dinked or deflected, subtle, dextrous, or just cool and efficient. No better proof of what a complete goal machine Onuachu is. He can simply do it all, the whole spectrum. The goal in Vienna was his second in a European match, after his goal at home against Shakhtar in the Champions League qualifying round. Apart from that, Paul has obviously scored most of his goals in the league (9 + 29 + 3 = 41 goals). He has scored 4 times in the play-offs, and 3 in the cup. Onuachu played a total of 5818 minutes. He has scored every 116 minutes since arriving at Genk. This season, which is still in its early stages, he has now reached 5. By comparison, in mid-September last year his tally stood at 2.
Favourite opponent: Antwerp
Looking at the teams where our Nigerian goal-getter has had the most success, we can see that Antwerp is his favourite opponent, with 6 goals in 6 encounters. Whilst he has scored 5 against both KV Oostende and Eupen. In all, Paul has already got on the scoresheet against 17 different teams. Home or away, he doesn't care about that either. In our stadium, Onuachu has scored 26 goals in 21 different games, and he's managed 24 in 20 games away from home. It's amazing how similar his records are.
This needs repeating: Paul Onuachu is a phenomenon, and a godsend for our club. He has already been top scorer and player of the year, and it goes without saying that he would be deserving of the Golden Boot. With or without gold, the day will come when he makes the deserved move to a club from the European elite. We will then be filled with a mixture of pride and sadness. Until then, we all have the privilege of enjoying his exceptional qualities.
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