Top Spanish Manager Sings Praise of Super Eagles Forward After Champions League Heroics

Top Spanish Manager Sings Praise of Super Eagles Forward After Champions League Heroics

Chukwu Ikechukwu
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:00 PM
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  • Unai Emery, Villarreal's coach, lauded his team's efforts against Bayern Munich, praising Samuel Chukwueze's superb cameo performance
  • The Super Eagles forward scored an 88th-minute goal against the Bavarians to send Villareal into their second ever Champions League semi-final
  • Chukwueze's goal was his sixth in all competitions this season and his first of the year after an injury blighted campaign

Samuel Chukwueze has been hailed by Villareal coach, Unai Emery after the Super Eagles forward qualified the Spanish club for the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League.

The Super Eagles forward made an instant impact after coming off the bench to score an 88th-minute leveller for the Yellow Submarines against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

The Champions League quarter-final second-leg fixture had been destined to go into extra time as Bayern Munich led through Robert Lewandowski to level the aggregate score to 1-1.

UEFA Champions League, Samuel Chukwueze, Bayern Munich, Unai Emery, Super Eagles, Villareal
Samuel Chukwueze celebrates his goal against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League. Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke
Source: Getty Images

According to a report via Soccernet, Unai Emery expressed satisfaction with Chukwueze’s performance while also praising his team’s character against the German champions.

“I’m happy for Chukwueze and everyone. The round of 16 game against Juventus gave us a lot of confidence and here it was another huge game. The first leg had already said a lot about us. We were perfect in defense.”

Chukwueze has struggled with injuries this season which has kept him out of the Villareal’s first-team most times with his goal against the Bavarians his first for the year 2022.

Nigerians celebrate Chukwueze after crucial goal

Meanwhile, Nigerians took to social media to celebrate Super Eagles forward, Samuel Chukwueze after his 88th-minute goal sent Villareal into the semi-finals of the Champions League.

The 22-year-old bagged his 6th goal of the season against Bayern Munich and Nigerians have taken to Twitter to endorse their support of the winger.

Another fan reckoned Chukwueze has made history with the vital goal.

Another Nigerian supporter revealed the 22-year-old’s record.

Chukwueze broke the hearts of the Bavarian fans just four minutes after coming on as a substitute to score a crucial goal that sent wild celebrations on the Villareal bench.

Samuel Chukwueze breaks Bayern Munich hearts

Earlier, Sports Brief reported the first half of the game could be best described in two words; resilient and relentless.

Bayern Munich were relentless as they sought an equalizer in the tie. The German team spent most of the first 45 minutes in the Villareal half, notching up 64% possession.

Bayern also had eight shots, but only one on target during the first half.

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Chukwu Ikechukwu
Chukwu Ikechukwu Godwin is a journalist with over 9 years of experience in the Nigerian media industry. He has worked both in Radio (Today FM, Rhythm FM, Wish FM) and Television (Silverbird TV) as a Sports Analyst..
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