Hapless Paul Onuachu strives to catch much-needed Europa League break

Where has it gone wrong for Paul Onuachu? 

On the one hand, a glance at the striker’s raw statistics this term questions the premise of the aforementioned query. 

10 league goals in 12 starts (14 appearances in total) is an impressive return by anyone’s standards but a closer look reveals a significant drop off in the Genk marksman’s end product in the attacking third. 

Onuachu has netted only once since an impressive treble in the Smurfs’ 3-0 success over Jupiler Pro League new boys Seraing in late September — scoring in the 6-2 success over Zulte Waregem last month — and his luckless run in front of goal is now concerning. 

In that time he has missed five opportunities termed ‘big chances’, worryingly continues to have a high volume of shots per game without hitting the target and has seemingly been taken off penalty-taking duty. 

“Last year we applauded Paul for his penalties, he was almost a certainty of success. But now...” Genk boss John van den Brom stated after Onuachu’s pair of failed attempts against Sporting Charleroi in October. “He had already missed one and is now doing so twice. Three of his four penalties failed. We have to think about whether it is time to make someone else responsible for the penalties.”

While the Limburg outfit have not had a spot-kick since van den Brom’s hint, the mere fact it has even been mentioned is a broader reflection of the struggles of a player who netted all eight attempts from 12 yards in 2020/21. 

Unfortunately for Onuachu, his malaise in front of goal domestically has continued in the Europa League, where he has endured a three-game drought heading into Thursday’s meeting with Dinamo Zagreb. 

The 27-year-old has not found the back of the net since his match-day one winner at Rapid Vienna, a 1-0 success that came amid a five-game scoring run for the towering frontman in which he notched eight goals.

Onuachu has missed four big chances in Europe’s secondary club competition with games against West Ham United particularly irksome. 

Despite ending the Hammers’ unblemished run in the competition with a 2-2 draw in Belgium last time out, the forward failed to tuck away favorable opportunities in the opening 20 minutes of proceedings. 

A ninth-minute header was straight at Alphonse Areola and he somehow contrived to miss the target in the 19th minute after a deflected cross fell to him in a promising position. 

Throw in an equally frustrating night in the reverse fixture at the London Stadium — where his profligate finishing and loose defending at West Ham’s set-pieces cost the Belgians in that 3-0 defeat — and the concern over the center-forward is exacerbated. 

Per Fbref, only three of Onuachu’s 13 shots have been on target, a 23 percent return which typifies Genk’s broader inaccuracy in that regard—20.8 percent of their 48 attempts has either made the opposition goalkeeper work or made the net bulge. 

The Smurfs rank third-bottom for percentage of shots on target and they have to show something different with a trip to a Dinamo side they trail by two points. 

Defeat in Croatia ends any chance of van den Brom’s team progressing to the knockout round as group winners or runners-up, highlighting the importance of a positive result on Thursday. 

Indeed, Genk’s drop off in results has coincided with Onuachu’s concerning lull in front of goal. They have lost six of their last competitive games in all competitions since the Nigerian’s Seraing hat-trick in September having won five of seven games hitherto their ongoing decline. 

With Europa League qualification hanging in the balance, their go-to marksman has to come up trumps to prevent early elimination and offer some timely optimism heading into their final game against Rapid in a fortnight.

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Seye Omidiora is a passionate football writer and pundit whose deep appreciation for the beautiful game exceeds the usual. He is currently a columnist for Goal Africa and has previously written for Vital Football UK, IBCity Info and Opera News.

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