Nigeria striker Anthony Ujah scored his tenth German Bundesliga goal for Werder Bremen on Friday in a 2-1 loss at Hamburg.
The former Lillestrom hitman scored in the 65th minute after his team were 2-0 down just six minutes after he replaced Mali’s Sambou Yatabare.
The 25-year-old striker has now scored ten goals in 29 games.
His last goal was on February 27 in 2-2 home draw with Darmstadt 98.
He has played for Lillestrom (Norway), Mainz and Cologne (Germany).
SV Werder Bremen and Nigeria international striker Anthony Ujah is confident improvement is afoot going into the Rückrunde.
Speaking from the club’s winter training camp in Belek, Turkey, the 25-year-old discussed his objectives for the second half of the season and revealed what it is like working alongside the Bundesliga’s all-time leading foreign goalscorer Claudio Pizarro. He talked to bundesliga.com:
What are your goals for the second half of the season?
My aim is to be better than in the first half of the season – not just in front of goal; there’s a lot I can give to the team. I hope I can help the side stay in the league. Our position at the moment is not very good. We have the potential and we have the quality in the team. My personal goal is to always be competitive and to stay injury-free, because then I can help the team a lot.
Given that Bremen are in a relegation battle, what do you think they can achieve?
I think if we can make fewer mistakes than we did in the first half of the season, stay cool and take our time then we can achieve something. There were some games that we didn’t deserve to lose. We’re working on everything here in the training camp. We’ve watched a lot of videos and seen the mistakes we’ve made. We’re trying to correct those and hopefully we’ll do it better in the second half of the season.
In what way do you help the team?
As a striker what I expect is goals, so I try to always be in the box and to get the goals for the team because without goals you cannot win a game. Hopefully I can get some more and give a lot more to the team, with assists and a lot of fight, both defensively and offensively.
Question: In terms of goals, assists and possession what is your personal aim this season?
Ujah: My personal goal is to try to keep the ball more up front so the team can come out because there have been many games when we’ve tried to fall back very deep. We defended very well so when we win the ball it’s very important that I keep it for the team to come out so we can get our own chances as well. So I’m trying to improve in that aspect and hopefully I can do it much better.
Question: Where do you think Bremen will finish this season?
Ujah: Between tenth and 12th.
Question: Who are your top five Bundesliga players?
Ujah: Oliver Kahn, Roy Makaay – he’s a striker I followed a lot when I was in Africa. Also Claudio Pizarro – thankfully he’s here too so I can learn a lot from him. Jay-Jay Okacha, the dribbler, and lastly I think Manuel Neuer.
Anthony Ujah put a difficult week behind him by scoring the winner for Werder Bremen in a DFB Pokal (German Cup) game on Tuesday night.
Ujah missed a penalty which ultimately cost his side two points in the 1-1 Bundesliga draw at home for FC Cologne and received stick from many of the faithful.
The Super Eagles attacker, however, showed great mental strength to put the set back behind him in an impressive performance for the Die Werderaner (The River Islanders) on Tuesday.
Ujah netted Werder’s fourth goal in the 4-3 win over Borussia Monchengladbach at Borussia Park in a feisty third round game and thus progress to the quarter-final.
Werder’s Florian Grillitsch won the ball against Julian Korb and beat three Gladbach players with his outrageously stunning pass to Ujah who proceeded to dummy yet another defender as he honed in on goal.
He then cut inside before striking home unerringly and with frightening force past the Gladbach goalkeeper, Yann Sommer to temporarily make it 4-2 to the visitors.
The hosts then pulled a goal back through Branimir Hrgota to set up a tense final few seconds but the Nigerian’s goal proved to be the decisive moment in the game.
He spoke afterwards to the club’s official website, www.werder.de.
“We knew that every team has a chance in the cup and we embraced that today. We piled on a lot of pressure in the first half but we didn’t score a goal.
“The fact that we put four past Gladbach in one half makes me very proud. It was a superb performance from us and we’re all pleased to be in the next round,” he said.
Ujah has now scored 10 goals for Werder in all competitions this season.
Anthony Ujah was disappointed that Werder Bremen lost 1 – 0 to Bayern Munich in their last Bundesliga game but the Nigeria international took some solace from the fact that the team gave their all against one of the best teams in Europe.
Thomas Muller’s 23rd minute strike separated the two sides at the end of the contest at the Weserstadion (Bremen).
“We did a few things better today than in recent games, and we showed that we can compete against the very best,” Ujah, who clocked 25 years last week, told his club’s official website on Saturday.
“For that reason I’m optimistic about the future, but we did lose today, which hurts. Our fans were very, very loud. It’s a shame that we couldn’t bring them any points.”
Ujah is still searching for his first goal in the German top flight this month.
Anthony Ujah scored for Werder Bremen in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Hoffenheim on match day of the 2015/16 Bundesliga season.
The attacker has been in brilliant form this season and again underlined his status as one of the most feared marksmen in the division.
Ujah netted in the second minute of added time to temporarily give his side a 2-1 lead at the Rhein-Necker Arena.
Claudio Pizzaro provided the assist for the Nigerian who has now netted twice in three league games this season.
Ujah scored his first league goal for Werder in the 1-1 draw with Hertha on August 21 at Olympiastadion, Berlin.
The Nigerian forward, who scored 10 league goals for FC Köln, joined Werder Bremen at the start of the season for € 4.5 million.
Nigeria and German Bundesliga side Werder Bremen striker, Anthony Ujah was on song against English Premier League side, West Ham United in their pre-season game at the Upton Park yesterday.
West Ham go into their Premier League opener against Arsenal on the back foot after failing to overcome Germany’s Werder Bremen in their final pre-season match.
Following their disastrous 2-2 draw against Romania’s Astra Giurgiu in Europa League qualifying, the Hammers led for just one minute of the match after Diafra Sakho’s opener was cancelled out immediately by Anthony Ujah.
It was Ujah again 11 minutes later who provided what would be the winner for the 10th placed side in last season’s Bundesliga.
West Ham started with intent, controlling the majority of the play and earning the better of the chances with Dimitri Payet most threatening from both the set-piece and open play.
On 15 minutes Felix Kroos, the 24-year-old brother of Real Madrid’s Toni, got a sniff from 20 yards for the visitors but was blocked well by Reece Oxford.
But when Sakho got on the end of Payet’s cross from the right side on 19 minutes the hosts took a deserved lead.
It was blown a minute later though with a 25-yard strike from Anthony Ujah, a handful throughout, that Adrian will be disappointed not to have denied.
There was no good fortune required for Nigerian Ujah’s second on 31 minutes, as he took a touch to beat Hammers defender James Tomkins and flashed his shot across the goal beyond Adrian.
A subdued second half followed the break with chances few and far between as both sides struggled to find rhythm among the customary raft of changes that come in these fixtures.
Now the Hammers go into their first challenge of the Premier League season against the Community Shield champions on Sunday with little reason for confidence after limping past Malta’s Birkirkara, needing penalties to overcome the minnows, and the horror show 2-2 at home to Astra.
Nigeria international Anthony Ujah has continued his impressive run with German Bundesliga club Werder Bremen with his eighth goal of the pre-season in a 3-1 win over Spanish La Liga side Sevilla.
Ujah, who played the first 45 minutes of the game, scored Bremen’s second goal in the 32nd minute.
Ujah joined Werder Bremen from FC Cologne this summer.
In England, compatriot Victor Anichebe was among the goals as West Brom thrashed Swindon Town 4-1 in a pre-season game also on Saturday, netting his first goal as the team’s build-up for the new EPL season.
Anichebe scored in the 23rd minute to give ‘The Baggies’ a 2-0 lead.
He scored three goals last season in 21 games for the Midlands club.
Fellow Nigerian Brown Ideye was close to goal twice, first in the 77th minute, when he failed to beat Swindon goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux in a one-on-one situation.
The second was when his long-range effort was spilled by the goalkeeper for Sessegnon to score for the fourth goal.
In a related vein, Leeds United midfielder Thomas “Tom” Adeyemi scored his team’s consolation goal as they lost 2-1 to German club Hoffenheim.
As players of the Super Eagles of Nigeria continue to look ahead to their first match against Chad in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Germany-based Eagles forward, Anthony Ujah has described it as an important game for the team and Nigeria.
“It’s a very important game for the Super Eagles and the country as a whole and all we can ask is for prayers and support for the team.
Ujah told www.footballlive.ng that he expects Chad will come into that game looking to give the Eagles a tough time, but said the target remains grabbing the three points at stake.
“I am sure they’ll [Chad] try to do everything possible to give us a bad day, but I am positive, I believe in the team and expect all three points.”
After being a bit-part player for the Super Eagles over the last two years, Nigeria striker Anthony Ujah has said he hopes to prove his worth in Nigeria’s colours, ahead of the friendly against South Africa on Sunday.
The 24-year-old has been recalled to the Nigeria team and started in the shock 0-1 loss to Uganda on Wednesday in a friendly, and he says he is looking to get that first goal to boost his confidence.
“I want to show what I can do for my country and I probably need that first goal to boost my confidence,” he said.
The Cologne of Germany striker also speaks on why he has failed to replicate his club form for Nigeria, but admits he is trying to find his rhythm playing for the Super Eagles.
“When I get that one goal, I want to get more,” he said. “Club football is different from national team football but I am putting in my best and still trying to find my rhythm.
“I hope to get that success and even though it’s been long since I last played for this team, I never gave up and I kept working hard, because I know what it means to play for my country. But I just need that first goal because it will give me a lot of confidence.”
Cologne forward Anthony Ujah has apologised for grabbing the club mascot – a goat – by the horns during celebrations in their 4-2 Bundesliga victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.
After scoring to secure a 4-1 lead in the 81st minute, the Nigerian ran to the side of the pitch where the goat is positioned during home games, grabbed the animal named Hennes VIII by the horns and attempted to drag it onto the pitch.
The animal’s handler was initially taken by surprise but managed to quickly recover and pull the goat back before the forward returned to the pitch as Cologne celebrated their first home win since October.
“Perfect Sunday. Sorry Hennes. I was a bit too rough on him,” Ujah wrote on Twitter and Facebook while also posting a photo of him pulling the goat.
The club also saw the humorous side of the celebrations.
“Hennes is used to such stuff. He may have a bit of a sore neck,” sports director Joerg Schmadtke told reporters.