Coming back from a long layoff injury, Ghana’s play-maker Maxwell Baako got fans going gaga with an absolute classic goal for his Khenchela side against El Bayadh in the Algerian top flight week 9 game on Friday.
The former Legon Cities, Asante Kotoko midfielder could not help but to hit the renowned Cristiano Ronaldo “Siuuuu” celebration as an iconic admiration for the five-time Ballon D’or winner.
Baako, who started the 2023/24 league season with the club, was struck with injury at the early stages of the season, having played just two matches during which he scored twice and assisted twice before getting injured to sit out four games.
The former Asante Kotoko playmaker’s absence was greatly felt as his side, USM Khenchela failed to pick a single point in all four matches he missed through injury. The return of the sensational midfielder has certainly been a catalyst to the obvious rise of Khenchela in the Algerian league in recent matches, having accumulated more points with Maxwell Baako featuring either as a substitute or a starter.
Having lost all four (4) matches Maxwell failed to play due to injury, his return to the bench where he started as a substitute earned Khenchela a draw, grabbing a point for the first time in five matches with the Ghanaian featuring this time.
Against El Bayadh on Friday, Baako propelled Khenchela to a commanding 2-0 victory, during which he scored the second goal in the 90+3 minute, a breathtaking strike which stands a chance of earning him a Puskas Award nomination, to say the least.
Baako’s influential performance at the start of the season earned him two times player of the month nominations, and was voted three times in the Team of the Week before his unfortunate injury lay off.
Statistically, the 28-year old star has been involved in 5 goals in 5 matches so far in the Algerian top flight with 3 goals and 2 assists. In 5 matches he has played in so far, Baako has won 3x MVPs, voted in the Team of The Week 3 times, voted two times as Player of the Week and two times Player of the Month nominations. He was as well voted best foreign player in the Algerian league last season.
In a total of 9 league matches played so far this season, USM Khenchela currently sit 9th in the league 16-team league table with 13 points.
Watch Maxwell Baako’s wonder goal in the video below:
