Super Eagles-snubbed Maduka Okoye puts up MOTM performance to dampen Juventus title dreams

Nigerian shotstopper Maduka Okoye continues to stack terrific performances on themselves. This time, he helped Udinese defeat the mighty Juventus away from home.  

The Old Lady hosted the Little Zebras at the Allianz stadium in a bid to cut the deficit on league leaders Inter and keep their Scudetto dreams alive after suffering defeat to the Nerazzurri last week. 

They welcomed an Udinese side winless in their last five league games, and they failed to lengthen the stretch to six games, thanks to the 25th minute strike from Luciano Giannetti and the heroics of Okoye between the sticks. 

Juventus were utterly dominant on the night, enjoying 70 per cent of possession to Udinese’s 30, while completing double the amount of passes their visitors had. 

They generated an xG of 2.17 from their 14 shots and three big chances created; however, Udinese had the better of the most important statistic, the goal. 

Juventus efforts certainly deserved more than they got, but for Maduka Okoye, who clinched his third clean sheet in seven starts. The Nigerian goalie was active between the sticks, making six saves, three of which were from close range. 

The former Sparta Rotterdam shot stopper seems to have reached the illuminated bit of the tunnel after a difficult past few years. A period in which he was subjected to cyberbullying by fans of the Super Eagles and also failed to find his feet after a move to his then club, Watford.