The Leicester City loanee scored the second goal of the 3-0 win over Birmingham in Saturday’s FA Cup fixture, his first for the club since joining from Galatasaray.
Yunus Akgun has finally scored for Leicester City, but he still has a long way to go before living up to Enzo Maresca’s high expectations.
The loanee scored City’s second goal as they defeated Birmingham 3-0 to advance to the FA Cup round of 16. He scored his first goal for the club five months after entering on loan from Galatasaray.
The goal was part of Yunus’s improved second-half performance, in which he was energetic in the press off the ball and carried it with threat while in possession. That is more of what Maresca wants to see.
Yunus was overjoyed after scoring his first goal, but the City management has stated that he will not be satisfied. Maresca isn’t satisfied yet.
READ ALSO; ‘I was confused’ – Journo baffled by Aston Villa transfer decision after loan exit confirmed
“I know Yunus very well and he’s not doing what we expected from him,” Maresca said following Saturday’s victory. “He can do much more. He can do for 95 minutes what he did in the second half.
“So we expect much more. But at the same time, he has been injured for a long time, he came here from a different country, he needs to adapt. We are very happy in terms of he is improving, but he can do much, much, much more.”
Yunus was not the only player to improve in the second period. The whole team did, which allowed City to recover from a first half in which they were in debt to the performance of goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk.
But Maresca expected the issues his side had, given the number of changes he made, with only Hamza Choudhury keeping his spot from Monday’s draw with Ipswich. The introduction of Ricardo Pereira, James Justin, and Kasey McAteer at half-time made a big difference.
Maresca said: “I was very calm (at half-time). When you prepare, you expect what can happen. I expected what arrived first half. ‘Guys, disaster in terms of the way we want to play.’ I was ready for this first 45 minutes. I was quite calm.
“Dennis, Yunus, Marc, Jamie, Wanya, Brandon, Ben, Callum, the keeper. Ten of 11, they didn’t get the minutes. They are new players. It’s normal that you’re going to struggle. We just adjust some things in terms of possession, with more control of the ball and more passes. First half, we were giving the ball away after two or three passes.”
Read also; Moments you may have missed during Sunderland’s 3-1 win over Stoke City at the Stadium of Light.
