Zimbabweans had gotten used to seeing the name Tino Kadewere on the scoresheet for Olympique Lyon so much so that some think its abnormal for him to play three games without finding the back of the net.
It’s perhaps a case of a man being a victim of his own brilliance or fans believing in him too much to argue that three games is too much football played for him to not score. Whichever the case is, the lanky striker is on ”rough patch” according some.
Yesterday’s 0-1 loss to Meltz, which he started and lasted until the 76th minute, was the third consecutive game he has not found the back of the net for Rudi Garcia’s side.
Understandably for the Zimbabwean football-loving public, since the Highfield bred star opened his Lyon account in the 3-2 win over Strasbourg on the 18th of October last year, he has not played for 270 minutes without scoring, as is the case now but equally factual is the fact that in that same period, his striker partner, Cameroonian Karl Toko Ekambi, with whom he has formed a lethal attack together with captain Memphis Depay, has not scored either.
Of the the trio, only Depay has scored in the last three games; the Dutch whiz with three strikes to his name- a brace against Lens and one against Rennes.
The bright side is that few initially believed the Warriors star can command a regular place in the star-studded Lyon attack but he has defied those odds to do so hence any sane person can bet his last cent that he can recover his goal scoring touch.
Worryingly for him though, the departure of Mousa Dembele to Atletico Madrid might have been something everyone affiliated to Kadewere wanted, but it also resulted in Algerian striker Islam Slamini joining the club.
Competition will obviously be the order of the day as Slimani seeks to revive his career, which is why it is important for Tino to pull up his socks.- Soccer 24 Zimbabwe
