Super Eagles Round Up: Maja, Kalu Dazzle, Dessers Penalty Miss, Awaziem Wins Battle Against Chukwueze

Despite the coronavirus outbreak, there were still actions across European Leagues and a host for Super Super Eagles stars featured for their respective teams.

Soccernet.ng brings a round-up of how Nigerian players fared across Europe last weekend.

Starting in France, Super Eagles stars, Samuel Kalu and Josh Maja both played a key role as Bordeaux played out a 1-1 draw with Saint Etienne. 

Maja scored his sixth league goal of the season courtesy of a Samuel Kalu assist. It was Maja’s first start for Les Girondins since December.

The Nigeria international fired home from close range after brilliant work from another Nigerian, Samuel Kalu.  However, Denis Bouanga’s header denied Maja and Bordeaux the win as both sides had to settle for a point.

Moving on to another game, Victor Osimhen could not add to his 13 Ligue 1 goals, but he still helped Lille secure a vital win over Lyon. Loic Remy’s 33rd-minute finish was enough for Christophe Galtier to pick up the maximum points.

Osimhen was on for the entire duration of the encounter. Also in France, Moses Simon was in action for Nantes, but he could only do little as Angers earned a 2-0 win over their visitors.

In Germany, it was a battle of Super Eagles stars as Paderborn hosted FC Cologne. The visitors had the newly invited Nigerian star Kingsley Ehizibue in their ranks, while Jamilu Collins featured for Paderborn.

In the end, it was Ehizibue that prevailed as goals from Jorge Mere, and Jonas Hector secured a 2-1 victory for Cologne. Both players were on from start to finish in the encounter.

In Spain, there was another battle of Super Eagles stars as Chidozie Awaziem came up against Samuel Chukwueze in the clash between Leganes and Villarreal.

In what was an entertaining game at Estadio de la Cerámica, it was Leganes that took home the glory as they stunned their hosts.

Gerard Moreno put the Yellow Submarines ahead inside the opening five minutes,  but a second-half brace from Oscar Rodriguez turned the game around for Javier Aguirre’s side.

Chukwueze and Kenneth Omeruo were second-half substitutes for Villarreal and Leganes respectively, but Awaziem put up a man of the match performance for the whole duration of the encounter.

Also in Spain, Oghenekaro Etebo featured for 70 minutes as Getafe were held at home by Celta Vigo. It’s Etebo’s sixth appearance in the Spanish top-flight for Getafe since he joined on loan from Stoke City back in January.

In the Netherlands, new Super Eagles striker, Cyriel Dessers missed the chance to celebrate his debut call up with a goal from the penalty spot, but he could not find the back of the net.

Nevertheless, the Eredivisie topscorer’s miss did not cost Heracles as they came back from two goals down to beat relegation-threatened RKC Waalwijk.

And finally in Turkey, forgotten Super Eagles striker, Olanrewaju Kayode was on target as Gaziantep played out a 1-1 draw against Mikel Obi and Anthony Nwakeme’s Trabzonspor.