Union Berlin manager, Urs Fischer, says he expects forward, Taiwo Awoniyi, to deliver when Union Berlin flies out against St Pauli in the quarter-final of the DFB-Pokal on Tuesday (today) after breaking his goals drought on Saturday.
After over two months of failing to find the back of the net for the club in all competitions, Awoniyi got his name on the score sheet in Union’s 3-1 win over 10-man Mainz on Saturday, after coming off the bench in the 67th minute for Andreas Voglsammer, for his 10th Bundesliga goal this term.
He is expected to be in the starting line-up against Pauli as the Bundesliga side are eager to reach the competition’s semi-final.
Speaking ahead of the game, Fischer revealed why he decided to start the striker on the bench against Mainz and how important he is to their game against St Pauli.
“I wanted to take the pressure off Taiwo a bit. He was at the Africa Cup of Nations and it has gone very well this season. He’s had a bit of a dry spell with Union now. Vogi was one of our last goalscorers and I decided for him a bit on instinct, Fischer told ligainsider.de.
“We still need Taiwo (against St Pauli). He is our top scorer and I’m glad it happened like this: Coming in and scoring against Mainz was important for his self-confidence.”
The 24-year-old is Union’s top scorer this season with 15 goals from 31 appearances in all competitions.
He joined the Bundesliga side on a permanent basis from Liverpool last summer for €6.5m after impressing during his loan spell in the 2020/21 season.
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