Nigeria international and FC Zurich of Switzerland mercurial midfielder, Ifeanyi Mathew was totally in his element on Thursday evening, as he helped his team to secure a comfortable 3-0 win over Shelbourne FC in the 2024-25 UEFA Conference League qualifiers, second round match in Zurich.
Mathew got on the score sheet in the first minute of the game, finding the back of the net with accurate precision after being served by Juan Perea who provided the assist for the goal.
The former Chan Eagles player further paved the way for his teammate Antonio Marchesan, setting him up with an inch perfect assist to double his team’s lead in the 29th minute of the game.
Shelbourne traveled to Zurich as massive underdogs as the game ended 3-0 in favor of FC Zurich, but it seem as though Ifeanyi Mathew was the star of the match and the song on everyone’s lips—haven scored a goal and providing an assist to give his side the numerical advantage heading into the reverse fixture.
The 13-time Swiss Pro League champions and 10-time Swiss Cup winners also had another Nigerian in action on the night, Emmanuel Umeh, who gave a good account of himself and lasted 82min on the pitch for FC Zurich.
Emmanuel Umeh played for Nigeria’s Flying Eagles in last year’s U20 FIFA men’s World Cup in Argentina. He recently joined FC Zurich from Bulgarian side Botev Plovdiv on a five-year deal, paimedia.com.ng confirms.
