Paul Onuachu scores Puskas contender in Trabzonspor 2-1 Konyaspor | OneFootball

Former Southampton flop Paul Onuachu has put himself in contention for next year’s Puskas Award after scoring the winner for Trabzonspor tonight. The striker sent the home crowd into raptures following his incredible finish in the dying minutes of his side's Super Lig fixture against Konyaspor. The result moves the Burgundy Blues into the top three ahead of this weekend’s games.

Onuachu, currently on loan from the Championship side after a disappointing few months in the Premier League, bagged a brace to lead his team to victory. His second goal will live long in the memory and could quite easily go down as the goal of his life.

Onuachu’s acrobatic heroics

With just over five minutes left on the clock, the 6’ 7" giant was attempting to cause havoc in the penalty area as his team mounted what was likely to be one of the last meaningful attacks of the game. A delightful ball found one of his teammates in the penalty area; however, their initial shot was blocked. As the ball ricocheted away, it seemed like the attack was likely to break down as the away side bundled more numbers back.

A hopeful cross was delivered towards the six-yard box, without much power. There was seemingly no attempt to find a man in a blue shirt, instead just with the aim of putting the ball in a dangerous position. It appeared that two Konyaspor defenders had the situation under control. They didn’t account for what would happen next.

Onuachu appeared between his opponents. In a piece of instinctive genius, the striker managed to pull off an extraordinary scorpion kick and find the back of the net. As if that wasn’t enough, he followed that up with a cartwheel and backflip in his celebration! The goal has been labelled "Puskas worthy" by some and we can see why. Check it out for yourselves below.

The goal had shades of Zlatan Ibrahimovic about it, especially his strike for Inter Milan against Bologna in 2008, but the Swede was notorious for scoring goals that defied logic throughout his career. Although he might have picked up the finish from the legendary striker, Onuachu may have just taught Zlatan a lesson in how to celebrate such a special goal.

Onuachu’s Southampton Career

The twenty-nine-year-old arrived at Southampton in January 2023 from Belgian side Genk. With the Saints in the middle of a relegation battle, they splashed just over £18m on the man who was at the time the top scorer in the Pro League.

The South Coast side would have been hoping that Onuachu would be bringing that same goalscoring to St Mary’s. On paper, a player of his stature should have had the physical prowess to cause any defenders in the Premier League a problem.

Things didn’t quite pan out as both parties would have hoped. The giant front man failed to register a goal or an assist in 12 appearances. Southampton would go on to be relegated from the Premier League, ending their 11-year stint in the division.

He sealed a loan move to the Turkish club in the summer transfer window and appears to have found his golden touch once again. His two goals tonight have seen him take his tally to six goals in all competitions, in just eight games. With such a stunning finish tonight, Saints fans will be wishing he could have produced that level of magic while he was still at the club.