Nigeria national football team midfielder Frank Onyeka put in a brilliant performance to help Brentford's chances of participating in European football next season with a clutch assist to send them into ninth place in the Premier League.
The 25-year-old midfielder provided the final pass for key attacker Josh DaSilva to score his 4th league goal of the season in the 94th minute against Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening.
Onyeka provided his second league assist of the season from 17 appearances for the bees. It was one that gave them a huge boost in their quest for European football next season.
Frank Onyeka comes on the assist the winner, Taiwo Awoniyi features as Brentford snatch a late victory over Nottingham Forest.
Emmanuel Dennis was an unused sub.#PL #BRENFO #EaglesTracker π¦ π³π¬ pic.twitter.com/u7pJytTjSQ
— Home of Nigerian Football (@EaglesTrackerNG) April 29, 2023
Onyeka shakes off injury to come clutch for Brentford
Onyeka was signed for an undisclosed fee from FC Midtjylland ahead of the 2021/22 season. The London-based club brought in the AFCON 2023 hopeful to the Brentford Community Stadium as their first signing of the season.
Onyeka was the sign that they were preparing for the new challenge of the Premier League after 74 years away from English top flight football. He would go on to play a prominent role as they shocked everyone to finish in the top half of the league with inspiring performances thanks to the tactical nous of Thomas Frank, their team manager.
He was expected to play a similar role this season but he has battled with recurring injury problems that have kept him on the sidelines for more than half of the season.
Against Forest at the Brentford Community Stadium, he made only his 17th league appearance and it was a performance worthy of a title challenger. Onyeka came on with 20 minutes to go and changed the game for the bees, before setting up Josh DaSilva to break the tie in the 94th minute after ace striker Ivan Toney had scored his 20th league goal of the season to equalise.
The ππππ of ππππ π΄π!#CHEBRE pic.twitter.com/8qgRDQrsEh
— Ogochukwu Frank Onyeka (@_FrankOnyeka) April 27, 2023
Onyeka to replace Ndidi in Nigeria Super Eagles squad?
JosΓ© Peseiro will be watching Onyeka closely in the next few weeks as he looks for a solution to the Wilfred Ndidi dilemma.
The Leicester City man has been a stalwart of the Super Eagles since his debut in 2017. Since suffering injuries in 2021 and 2022, however, his performances have greatly dropped. In the Premier League where he used to dominate and get worldwide accolades, he is now a shadow of himself.
Onyeka is one of a number of midfielders who are a natural fit for Ndidi's position in the Nigeria national football team squad alongside Oghenekaro Peter
Etebo and Innocent Bonke. Etebo is not much of a threat as the Stoke City midfielder is naturally a central midfielder but possesses a versatility that can see
him hold down a deeper role. With the upcoming AFCON 2023 qualifiers fixtures coming up, Onyeka will be hoping to maintain his fitness in order to convince the Super Eagles' Portuguese handler of his ability in that role.
It will not be easy to take it from Ndidi, however, whose first team experience is greater and whose abilities are unrivalled when he is in his element.
While the debate about Ndidi's role with the Super Eagles continues, fans can participate in the action and use the Betway sign up offerΒ orΒ 1xbet promo codeΒ to begin playing.
Ndidi's leicester City remain locked in a relegation scrap andΒ fans can stay updated with theΒ live scores surrounding the Foxes, between now and the end of the season.
This article was most recently revised and updated 2 years ago
