Nigerians in Europe: Iheanacho, Dessers, Okoye shine over the weekend

Several Nigerian football players in Europe had reasons to smile while some others suffered damaging defeats with their respective clubs.

Serie A (Italy): Victor Osimhen and David Okereke (Napoli and Venezia)

Osimhen’s 90 minutes of play could not help his side maintain the top position as they were stunned by Milan in Naples by a lone goal. French striker Olivier Ground’s 49th strike separated both sides at the Diego Maradona Stadium.

David Okereke also shared a similar plight with Osimhen as his club Venezia suffered a 4-1 home defeat to Sassuolo. Okereke was substituted in the 86th minute for Arnor Sigurdsson.

Napoli dropped to third on the log while Venezia are 18th on the log, three points from safety.

Parma and their on-loan Nigerian striker, Simy Nwankwo dropped points at home to Reggina on Saturday. Nwankwo made the assist for Juan Bunetta’s low drive to put the hosts in front in the 20th minute.

The visitors retook the lead in the 65th minute with Cristiano Lombardi’s strike.

Eredivisie (Netherlands): Maduka Okoye and Cyril Desser (Sparta Rotterdam and Feyenoord)

The Nigerian Goalkeeper produced an outstanding performance for Sparta Rotterdam in an inconclusive match last Friday against Vitesse.

The match was played till the 92nd minute with Okoye’s team leading 1-0 before the match was suspended after Okoye was hit by a bottle. Meanwhile, before the game was suspended, Okoye saved Lois Openda’s penalty in the 63rd minute that denied the visitors an equaliser.

Okoye also made nine saves during the game before it was abruptly suspended. Sparta Rotterdam currently sit bottom of the 18-team Eredivisie with that inconclusive result. The win would have taken them to 16th position.

Meanwhile, Nigerian winger Cyril Dessers was the saviour for Feyenoord over the weekend as he grabbed a point for his team at home. Dessers came on for Bryan Linseen in the 56th minute and restored parity in the 71st minute.

SPL (Scotland) Leon Balogun, Calvin Bassey, and Joe Aribo (Rangers)

The duo of Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo played 90 minutes while compatriot, Leon Balogun came on in the 59th minute as Rangers beat Aberdeen 1-0 at Ibrox Stadium.

Aribo provided the assist for Kemar Roofe’s 81st winner. Bassey made two successful tackles and won four of the nine duels he contested. Balogun made two interceptions with one clearance.

EPL (England) Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Ademola Lookman (Leicester City)

The trio of Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Ademola Lookman featured during Leicester City’s hard-fought 1-0 victory over Leeds.

Iheanacho came off the bench for Jamie Vardy in the 61st minute and made the assist for Havey Barnes six minutes afterwards.

With the duo of Kelechi and Lookman coming in as substitutes in the second half, Ndidi was replaced in the 76th minute as the Foxes went away with the maximum point. The three points took Leicester to the 12th position with 33 points.

Emmanuel Dennis, Oghenekaro Etebo, Samuel Kalu, and Troost Ekong ( Watford)

Relegation battlers, Watford paraded Emmanuel Dennis against Arsenal on Sunday but the Nigerian fired blanks during the encounter.

Dennis, the top goal scorer of the Hornets, had one gilt-edged chance in the second half but he miscued his connection. Arsenal were 3-2 winners with Bukayo making one and scoring one.

The last time Dennis scored was against Aston Villa last month with a record of nine goals this season. Kalu made his debut in the 89th minute for the Hornets as he kicked off his EPLcareer with a defeat.

Meanwhile, Etebo was on the bench throughout the game while Troost Ekong is yet to recover from an injury.

Championship: Semi Ajayi (West Brom)

Semi Ajayi was at the centre of defence as West Brom returned to winning ways after three consecutive defeats.

The Nigerian defender celebrated his 21st appearance in the Championship with a 2-0 victory over Hull City. West Brom stay in the 13th position with 49 points.

La Liga (Spain): Samuel Chukwueze and Sadiq Umar (Villarreal, Almeria)

Sadiq Umar and Samuel Chukwueze had a bad time during the weekend as both players suffered defeats with their respective clubs.

Sadiq Umar’s Almeria suffered a 2-0 defeat to Real Zaragoza in the Spanish second division league to deny them the chance to claim the top position.

Sadiq had earlier provided a penalty for his side in the ninth minute but Dyego Sousa failed to convert the chance as the host punished them for the failed attempt. The striker’s chance to get a consolation failed as the referee ruled out Sadiq’s 71st-minute effort.

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On the other hand, Chukwueze came in for Yeremi Pino in the 71st minute as his side Villarreal were surprisingly beaten 1-0 by Osasuna. The winger couldn’t do much to help his club during the encounter.

Ligue 1 (France): Moses Simon, Terem Moffi, and Innocent Bonke (Nantes, FC Lorient)

Moses Simon continued to impress fans both home and away after his contribution during Nantes’ 2-0 victory over Montpellier. Simon played for 90 minutes during the encounter as the Canaries rose to the sixth position with 42 points.

Terem Moffi and Innocent Bonke also starred in the home defeat to Lyon during the weekend. Moffi scored the consolation in Lorient’s defeat but the defeat condemned them to 18th place with 24 points.

Superliga (Denmark): Akinkunmi Amoo, Paul Mukairu, Stephen Odey, and Tosin Kehinde ( FC Copenhagen, Randers)

Paul Mukairu and newly-invited Super Eagle, Akinkunmi Amoo beat Stephen Odey and Tosin Kehinde’s Randers 3-0 last Friday at the Parken Stadium.

Mukairu was on until the 71st minute while Amoo who just joined the League toppers in January made his debut with three minutes left to play. Odey’s effort throughout the encounter was futile while his counterpart, Kehinde got substituted in the 83rd minute.

FC Copenhagen lead the table with 42 points from 20 matches while Randers are in sixth place with 29 points.

Budesliga (Germany): Taiwo Awoniyi, Anthony Ujah and Jamilu Collins ( Union Berlin and SC Paderborn)

Taiwo Awoniyi and Anthony Ujah’s efforts were not enough to stop their team from suffering a lone goal away defeat to Wolfsburg on Saturday.

Awoniyi suffered the ignominy of scoring an own goal as the hosts forced a narrow victory over Berlin.

Meanwhile, Jamilu Collins was on the score sheet for SC Paderborn as he scored the fourth goal for the visitors in a seven-goal thriller.

Collins scored in the 76th minute to give the visitors a three-goal lead before the host rallied with two goals in the 81st and 88th minutes, which made Collins strike the winner. it was his first goal of the season and took to eighth place with 36 points from 25 matches.