Emenike dents Echiejile’s Champions League dream

Emmanuel Emenike

Fenerbahçe forward, Emmanuel Emenike, won the battle of Nigerians when he came up against compatriot, Elderson Echiejile of Monaco in the UEFA Champions League.

The pair clashed in the play-off of Europe’s elite club competition on Wednesday at Sukru Saracoglu Stadi with Emenike’s Fenerbahçe coming out tops 2-1.

Emenike grabbed two beautiful goals while former Super Eagles teammate Echiejile on the other hand, was not even dressed for the French giants.

Fenerbahçe were ahead six minutes before the break when Simon Kjaer delivered a terrific cross into Emenike, who fired home to send the Turkish outfit into a 1-0 lead.

The visitors answered straight back when Radamel Falcao, back at the club following disappointing loan spells with Manchester United and Chelsea, poked past Mahmut Taskiran after a mix-up inside the box.

But Emenike wasn’t done yet. The striker collected a Gregory van der Wiel pass exactly on the hour mark before finishing past Morgan de Sanctis to win the game for the Turkish giants.

The 29-year-old has so far been impressive since his return to Istanbul – scoring four times in six games.

Vítor Pereira’s men will travel to Stade Louis II for the second leg fixture next week Wednesday with the winner advancing to the group phase of the competition.