Having monitored the major leagues across Europe over the weekend, we had 10 goals involvement (7 goals and 3 assists) from Nigerian players featured in this piece.
Cyriel Dessers netted twice (44th and 48th minute) respectively as Rangers put five past Hearts in the Scottish Premiership. Philippe Clement then took him off for Kemar Roofe in the 79th minute; while Leon Balogun did not make it past the bench for Rangers. Mohamed Diomande (2nd minute), Oscar Cortes (37th minute) and Fabio Silva (65th minute) were the other goalscorers for Rangers in the exceptional performance at Ibrox Stadium.
Goals from Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi were enough for Marco Silva’s Fulham to beat Manchester United 2-1 at Old Trafford. Bassey’s 65th minute strike was his first Premier League goal and English defender, Harry Maguire scored the only goal for Erik ten Hag’s team.
Victor Osimhen broke the deadlock in Napoli’s encounter with Cagliari in the 66th minute. Osimhen was taken off for Giovanni Simeone in the 85th minute after suffering an injury – and Zito Luvumbo levelled terms for the host before full-time whistle.
Yira Sor, who came on for Luca Oyen in the 70th minute netted the decider a minute later feeding off Zakaria El Ouahdi’s pass for Genk to get the better of Royal Charleroi. Tolu Arokodare was also involved for the winners, leading the attack.
Adeleke Akinyemi scored Karvina’s second goal (79th minute) in their battle with Teplice in Czech. Lucky Ezeh and Emmanuel Ayaosi were substitutes in same team; replacing Kahuan Vinicius and Sebastian Bohac in the 46th and 79th minute respectively. The game finished 2-2 and David Krcik put Karvina in front after 14 minutes; whereas Daniel Fila (penalty – 53rd minute) and Mohamed Yasser (64th minute) hit it home for Teplice.
Moses Simon teed up Jean-Charles Castelle to find the back of the net in the 49th minute, giving Jocelyn Gourvennec’s Nantes the edge over Lorient at Stade du Moustoir. Simon did not play all through, hence Benie Traore replaced him in the 68th minute. Bonke Innocent was unavailable for Regis Le Bris men owing to injury.
Taiwo Awoniyi assisted Moussa Niakhate to register Nottingham Forest’s first goal before half-time break against Aston Villa at Villa Park. Awoniyi was later substituted for Divock Origi in the 46th minute and Ola Aina did not take part as a result of injury. Nottingham lost 4-2 and Morgan Gibbs-White scored Nuno Espirito Santo’s team second goal; while goals from Ollie Watkins, Douglas Luiz’s brace and Leon Bailey nicked it for Unai Emery’s side.
Jordan Torunarigha featured for Gent against Royal Antwerp in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League and departed the clash for Nurio Fortuna in the 54th minute. Similarly, Chidera Ejuke and Alhassan Yusuf commenced the tie for Antwerp. Ejuke was subbed for Gyrano Kerk in the 59th minute and Yusuf for Eliot Matazo with 11 minutes remaining. Victor Udoh also represented Antwerp, replacing Jacob Ondrejka in the 73rd minute. Udoh provided the assist for his team’s second goal, slotted in by George Ilenikhena in the 84th minute. Ondrejka had earlier scored the first goal via a spot kick in the 25th minute; while Gent’s goals came from Toby Alderweireld’s own goal (16th minute) and Pieter Gerkens (28th minute), hence 2-2 scoreline at KAA Gent Arena.
Nathan Tella stepped onto the pitch when Xabi Alonso called on him to replace Jeremie Frimpong (83rd minute) in the game between Bayer Leverkusen and Mainz at Bay Arena. Victor Boniface was not involved due to groin injury and Mainz player, Jessic Ngankam received a red card in the 80th minute. Alonso’s men continued their impressive run of form with a 2-1 glory. Granit Xhaka and Robert Andrich scored for the league leaders and Dominik Kohr found the back of the net for Bo Henriksen’s team.
Yusuf Lawal had a short time on the pitch for Arouca replacing Guinean international, Morlaye Sylla in the 88th minute against Famalicao. Jose Luis (Puma) was red carded in the 91st minute, leaving Famalicao with ten men for the rest of the clash. Lawal’s side came out tops in a 3-2 scoreline.
Ebenezer Akinsanmiro took part in Inter’s four nil triumph over Leece at Stadio Via del Mare after Simone Inzaghi threw him in for Davide Frattesi in the 76th minute. Akinsanmiro held his own upon making a presence on the pitch of play.
The duo of Muhamed Tijani and Igoh Ogbu were in action for Slavia Prague versus FK Pardubice. Tijani was seen upfront and Ogbu in the centre back position, though was taken off for Tomas Holes in the 70th minute; while Bolu Ogungbayi was on the bench for Prague throughout the contest. However, Mojmir Chytil scored thrice as they thrashed Pardubice at Fortuna Arena.
Victor Olatunji came on for Indrit Tuci in the 66th minute as Sparta Prague travelled to Slovacko. Olatunji could not find the back of the net but they conquered opposition 3-1 on the road.
Wale Musa-Alli operated from the left flank for Ceske Budejovice against Sigma Olomouc in Czech top division and made way for Florent Poulolo in the 79th minute. While they were short of a man following Martin Kralik’s red card in the 77th minute, they won 2-1.
Paul Onuachu was introduced for Enis Destan three minutes after the hour mark in Trabzonspor’s colours versus Adana Demirspor at Papara Park. Jose Rodriguez reduced Demirspor to ten men in the 94th and Trabzonspor ran away with a win following Trezeguet’s finish in the 21st minute.
Ahmad Ghali tasted every minute of action for Slovan Liberec versus Jablonec at Stadion U Nisy – and the match ended in a six-goal thriller (3-3) with both teams sharing a point.
Former Villarreal player, Samuel Chukwueze only made Milan’s bench and Gian Piero Gasperini subbed on Ademola Lookman for Charles De Ketelaere in the 46th minute in the face-off between Stefano Pioli’s Milan and Atalanta at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium. Rafael Leao registered the opener three minutes into action and Teun Koopmeiners converted a penalty to restore parity in the 42nd minute, thus 1-1 result.
Quadri Adediran was upfront for Banik Ostrava as they slugged it out with Bohemians. Adediran could not punish opposition and made way for Eldar Sehic in the 67th minute – and Pavel Hapal equally replaced injured Ewerton with Abdullahi Tanko in the 34th minute. Bohemians player (David Puskac) was sent off in the 64th minute. David Buchta struck for Ostrava in the 32nd minute and David Huf equalized with seven minutes left.
Junior Pius was present in Chaves’ defence for the entirety of the game at Estrela in the Primeira Liga. In the same team, Kelechi Nwakali replaced Ricardo Guimaraes (Guima) in the 78th minute and it finished one-all.
Francesco Farioli called upon Terem Moffi to replace Jeremie Boga a minute after the hour mark as Nice play host to Clermont at Allianz Arena. No goal was recorded by either side, thus a stalemate affair after 90 minutes of action.
Solomon John played for Mlada Boleslav from the left flank versus Hradec Kralove. John could not find his way through the rival’s defenders, leading to his exit for Vasil Kusej in the 59th minute and it was goalless at Malsovicka Arena after full-time whistle.
Francis Momoh operated from the left wing of the attack for Grasshoppers in their home game with Luzern. Momoh failed to score and they fell short of victory losing 1-0.
Kenneth Omeruo was available in Kasimpasa’s heart of defence against Fenerbahce at Sukru Saracoglu Stadium. They conceded twice and lost 2-1.
Goalkeeper, Maduka Okoye conceded twice as Genoa clinched a 2-0 victory over Gabriele Cioffi’s Udinese. Kingsley Ehizibue also made Udinese’s team, occupying the right-wing back position and later subbed for Festy Ebosele in the 46th minute; while Isaac Success was an unused substitute. Thomas Kristensen’s time on the pitch ended after receiving a red card in the 49 minute, thereby seeing Udinese play the rest of the game with a man down. Mateo Retegui (36th minute) and Mattia Bani (40th minute) made it count for Alberto Gilardinho’s side.
Simy Nwankwo had few minutes under his belt for Fabio Liverani’s Salernitana, replacing Antonio Candreva in the 87th minute against Monza – and Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi did not get to feature. Monza grabbed 2-0 result at Stadio Arechi with Daniel Maldini (78th minute) and Matteo Pessina (83rd minute) getting on the scoresheet.
Ifeanyi Matthew played every minute for Zurich in their visit to Lugano in the Swiss Super League – and Chinwendu Johan Nkama came on for Hadj Mahmoud with seven minutes left in Lugano’s outfit. Despite playing all through, Matthew was on the losing side as Lugano won two nil.
Imanol Alguacil brought in Umar Sadiq for Andre Silva in the 65th minute as Real Sociedad welcome Villarreal to Reale Arena. Sadiq could barely make much impact upon his introduction and the Yellow Submarines pummeled opposition 3-1.
Kenneth Ikugar started for Zlin against Viktoria Plzen at Doosan Arena. Ikugar could not register a goal and was substituted for Antonin Fantis in the 78th minute. Rafiu Durosinmi did not partake in the action for Plzen due to injury, though his side sealed a three nil glory.
Babajide David Akintola and Ibrahim Olawoyin completed 90 minutes of action for Rizespor at Samsunspor. While Azubuike Okechukwu was out with ankle injury for Rizespor, Samsunspor breezed through opposition 3-0.
Former Flying Eagles star, Akor Adams donned the jersey of Montpellier, coming on for Silvan Hefti in the 70th minute versus Marseille at Stade Velodrome. No goal for Adams and Marseille pipped Michel Del Zakarian’s side comfortably (4-1).
