Nigeria Stars Abroad: Samuel Chukwueze, Oshoala, Olayinka on fire; Kalu, Iwobi, Abraham fire blanks

A fine weekend it was yet again for Nigerian stars abroad as there were goals of all shades – long range strikes, Ibrahimovic-esque swivel and turn effort, simple tap ins – and all the technical and tactical nous in between.

Soccernet.ng brings you the best of the best from actions of Nigeria born footballers across Europe.

England

Wilfred Ndidi, Leicester City 5-0 Newcastle

The Super Eagles midfielder was the star of the night, scoring the fifth and final goal as Leicester hammered Newcastle 5-0 at the King Power Stadium on Sunday.

It was the Nigerian international’s second goal of the season having already scored in the Foxes 1-1 draw against Chelsea earlier this season.

The win over the Magpies puts Leicester in the third position with 14 points, two points behind Man City who sits in second place and seven points behind leaders, Liverpool who they face on Saturday.

Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori, Chelsea 2-0 Brighton

The two youngsters returned to the starting line up to help the Blues record their first home win in the league as well as their first clean sheet of the season.

Jorginho converted a penalty kick won by Mason Mount just after the break before William made sure of the points much later.

While Tammy fired blanks in that fine victory, Tomori was a huge presence in defence in partnership with Christensen to keep Brighton’s attackers at bay.

Alex Iwobi, Everton 1-3 Manchester City

Iwobi started on the bench when the referee signalled kick off at the Goodison Park but four minutes in and he was called on to replace Theo Walcott who had picked up a head injury.

Iwobi did creditably well and was even the architect of Everton’s equalizer just before the break but the Toffees could not hold out as the champions ran away with three goals and the maximum points.

Semi Ajayi, Eberechi Eze; QPR 0-2 West Brom

The two Nigeria born stars were on either side of the divide but it was the Super Eagles defender Semi Ajayi who had the last laugh as he guided the Baggies to their first clean sheet of the season.

Semi Ajayi was once again the epitome of solidity in West Brom’s away victory over QPR.

The former Rotherham captain was on for the entire duration as West Bromwich Albion defeated Queens Park Rangers 2-0 away from home.

Nathan Ferguson and Matheus Pereira scored the goals for West Brom as Ajayi ensured the leading Championship campaigners wrapped up the game with a clean sheet.

His compatriot, Eberechi Eze, who has been one of the top performers in the Championship thus season was however subdued for the entire 70 minutes he was on the pitch for the losing side. He was replaced by another British-Nigerian Bright Osayi Samuel.

Spain

Asisat Oshoala, Sevilla 0-2 Barcelona

Super Falcons forward, Asisat Oshoala was on target as Barcelona comfortably dispatched Sevilla in the Liga Iberdrola on Sunday.

Oshoala netted the second goal of the encounter after she robbed the opposing keeper of the ball and tapped home into an empty net with three minutes left to end the encounter.

Before then, Jennifer Hermoso had given the visitor a perefct start to the game when he smashed home the opener in the 38th minute.

Oshola’s goal against Sevilla was the fifth for the three-time African Women’s Footballer of the Year in all competitions this season after her stunning pre-season form, netting eight goals in five games.

Samuel Chukwueze, Villarreal 5-1 Real Betis

Super Eagles winger Samuel Chukwueze grabbed his second goal of the season and the fifth in the game as Villarreal powered past Real Betis to record a commanding 5-1 victory at Estadio de la Ceramica on Friday night.

Villarreal produced arguably their best performance in 2019 when they ran riot Against visiting Betis in front of 18,135 fans.

The game was locked at one all– Javier Calleja and Karl Took Etambi – before Samuel Chukwueze joined the party.

And before the match came to a conclusion, Chukwueze had earned a penalty, pre-assisted a goal and scored another as Villarreal began the weekend in style.

Azeez Ramon, Kenneth Omeruo, Awaziem; Granada 1-0 Leganes

Super Eagles Midfielder Ramon Azeez played for half an hour as his Spanish side Granada continued to fly high by claiming the scalps of Leganes who had both Omeruo and Awaziem wearing their jersey on Saturday.

Antonio Puertas scored the only goal of the game in the 28th minute to take Granada to second on the Spanish La Liga table just a point adrift of league leaders Real Madrid who have 15 points.

Meanwhile, his compatriots Kenneth Omeruo and Chidozie Awaziem played the entire duration for Leganes and couldn’t do anything to stop their team from losing.

Playing in the heart of the defense, Omeruo picked up a yellow card in the 80th minute while Awaziem went into the referee’s book seven minutes later.
Germany

Jamilu Collins, Paderborn 2-3 Bayern Munich

The fullback stunned the Bundesliga with a stunning 84th minute 30 yard drive it was just not enough as Bayern Munich made away with the maximum points.

Jamilu Collins and Paderborn were impressive, scoring twice against the champions, but Niko Kovac’s men were too hot to handled for the newly promoted side as Bayern edged a 5-goal thriller.

France

Victor Osimhen, Nice 1-1 Lille

In midweek, Osimhen was in inspiring form as he netted one and assisted the other as Lille thrashed Strasbourg in front of their home fans.

However, the Super Eagles striker could not add to his six goal tally in the French Ligue 1 despite putting up an impressive performance that earned him almost all the entire duration as Lille forced home side Nice to a 1-1 draw.

Kasper Dolberg opened scoring for the home side in the 13th minute but Lille restored parity through Luis Araujo in the 24th minute.

Osimhen had chances to add to his tally, but the Nice defence line was solid and Lille would be happy to pick up a point away from home.

Samuel Kalu, Josh Maja; Bordeaux 0-1 PSG

Samuel Kalu was outclassed in a battle of stars when Paris Saint-Germain came to town in a Ligue Un match on Saturday.

Kylian Mbappe set up Neymar (70′) for the only goal of the match as the Champions ended Bordeaux’s six game unbeaten run.

Kalu couldn’t add to his goal tally from last weekend, but went close once in the game.

It was a different story during the midweek round of matches as Kalu ended his eight-month goal drought in the French Ligue 1 with a fine goal in Bordeaux’s 3-1 victory over Amiens.

The 22-year-old started his seventh Ligue 1 game of the season on Wednesday night as Paulo Sousa’s men defeated their hosts at Stade de la Licorne.

The winger was in action for 89 minutes before he was replaced by compatriot Josh Maja.

Moses Simon, Lyon 0-1 Nantes

In France, Moses Simon was in action from the start as Nantes edged out their hosts, Olympic Lyon 1-0 courtesy of Fernando Marcal’s 58th minute own goal.

Simon, who is on loan at Nantes from Spanish side, Levante was replaced by Frechman, Kader Bamba in the 71st minute.

Belgium

Paul Onuachu, Stephen Odey: Genk 3-0 Rinse

Paul Onuachu and Stephen Odey both claimed a goal each as RKC Genk trumped KSK Ronse 3-0 in the Belgium.

The Nigerian internationals were on parade for the entire 90 minutes of the game as they helped their side move into the next round of the competition.

Odey broke the deadlock in the 59th minute to give Genk a 1-0 lead before Bryan Heynen extended their lead 13 minutes later.

Compatriot Onuachu then wrapped things up seven minutes from time to hand Genk a pleasant win.

Czech Republic

Peter Olayinka, Slavia Prague 1-0 Mlada Boleslav

Super Eagles latest invitee, Olayinka scored his third league goal of the season to give his club the edge over Mlada Boleslav on Saturday as the home side maintained a perfect record in the Fortuna Liga.

The 23-year-old put the league leaders in front as early as the 14th minute of the contest, connecting with a low cross near the penalty spot into the top corner.

Peter was named as part of Gernot’s Rohr 23-man squad to face Brazil in a friendly next month.