Former Nigeria youth international Taiwo Awoniyi was simply and utterly brilliant for his club Mouscron this weekend with 2 goals and 1 assist although his team lost 4:3 to Standard Liege in Belgium.

This was a thrilling encounter that seemed to be going the way of Mouscron who were leading 3:2 with an extra man, following a red card to an opponent, until they capitulated in the last ten minutes to concede 2 late goals.

Taiwo Awoniyi appears to be coming of age as his goals and assists were of the highest quality against a tough defensive line in a high-tempo encounter.

With his team 1:0 down, Taiwo made it 1:1 by racing from right midfield all the way to the 18 yard box, overcoming a defender on the way before beating the goalkeeper with a near post fearsome shot - reminiscence of the kind of goal you would associate with Gareth Bale.

In the 64th minute, with his team down 2:1 at that point, Taiwo received a pass, raced into the 18 yard box, peeled off a defender before laying a deft pass on the plate for his team mate to slot home and bring Mouscron back in the match 2:2.

Before that goal, Taiwo had been a constant menace to Standard Liege's defenders as a lone striker up front as he always either looked like scoring or making something happen.

The inevitable happened in 76 minutes as the Under 17 world cup winner latched on to a through pass, cut back to beat 3 defenders and crashed the back of the net with a well taken goal to give his side a 3:2 lead at that point while earning a yellow card with his goal celebration.

Mouscron however could not hold on as goals by Mehdi in 87 minutes and Duje in 89 minutes condemned them to a 4:3 defeat.

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