Patson nets first UCL goal, Mwepu assists twice as Salzburg run riot in Belgium
By the ZamFoot Crew | November 28, 2019
Zambia national team striker Patson Daka scored his first goal of the Competition as Redbull Salzburg cruised to a 4-1 win over KRC Genk away in Belgium.
Country mate Enock Mwepu put in a fantastic performance as he assisted twice and played the full ninety minutes.
Redbull Salzburg went into the match looking to boost their chances of qualifying to the round of 16 with a win as their only option having only accumulated four points in their first four games.
The former Nchanga Rangers and Power Dynamos striker could have opened the scores shortly after the half-hour mark but somehow he ballooned his effort over the bar after being put on goal by Dominik Szoblaszai with only the goalkeeper, 21-year-old Gaëtan Coucke to beat.
Daka, however, got his goal in the 44th minute as he pounced on a loose ball in the area rebound after Coucke failed to deal with a Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick palling it into Daka’s path who made no mistake finishing off with ease to open his UEFA Champions League goal account.
THE PATSON DAKA RECORD
Yes Patson Daka is the first Zambian player to score in the UEFA Champions League (1992/1993 -date). The UEFA Champions League was called the European Cup before the 1992/93 season. pic.twitter.com/eLB5GEqiEt
— #Mr-Zambian-Football (@Mubajnr) November 28, 2019
A minute later Enock Mwepu threaded a nice pass to Takumi Minamino who scored his first of the match and Salzburg’s second to make it 2-0. Patson Daka’s night came to an end in the 60th minute as he was replaced by Norwegian teenage sensation Erling Haaland.
Hee-Chan Hwang added a third in the 69th minute as he finished off Haaland’s well-timed cross. Mbwana Samatta pulled one back in the 85th minute following an error by Brazilian goalkeeper Carlos Coronel but Haaland restored the visitors lead two minutes later, Mwepu with another assist.
4-1 the match ended and after the draw in the match between Liverpool and Napoli, Salzburg needs just a win in their final game to qualify for the round of 16.
Patson Daka’s made him the first Zambian player to score in the UEFA Champions League since the change of name and format in 1992/93 and second since the inception of the tournament after Kalusha ‘King Kalu’ Bwalya who scored for PSV in 1991.