Europa League: Super Eagles Star On Target In A Night Of Mixed Fortunes For Nigerian Players

Matchday two of the Europa League took place across Europe on Thursday night, and several Nigerian players were in action for their respective clubs

Forgotten Super Eagles star Olanrewaju Kayode was the star of the night as he scored for the second consecutive game. Still, it was not enough to prevent Sivasspor from suffering a home defeat.

The former Shakhtar Donetsk striker had scored in the loss to Villarreal last week, and he repeated the same feat in the clash against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Kayode put Sivasspor ahead in the 55th minute, but a 69th-minute penalty from Dan Biton and Dor Peretz strike 16 minutes from time turned the tie around for Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, in the other group game, Samuel Chukwueze provided another assist as Villarreal made it two wins out of two with a 3-1 win at Qarabag.

The Yellow Submarines opened their campaign with a 5-3 win over Sivasspor, and they built on the success with another victory over the Azerbaijani club.

Owusu Kwabena put the home side in the 78th minute, but Yeremi Pino levelled matters for Villarreal two minutes later.

Chukwueze then set up Paco Alcacer six minutes from time for Villarreal’s second before the Spanish international added a third from the penalty spot in added time.

Rangers also made it two wins out of two as they edged out Lech Poznan at home following their 2-0 win at Standard Liege last week.

Leon Balogun and Joe Aribo both featured with the former playing for the whole duration, while the latter was a second-half substitute. Alfredo Morelos goal in the 68th minute was enough to secure a win for Steven Gerrard’s men.

In Russia, Chidera Ejuke walked off with a suspected hamstring injury as CSKA Moscow played out a goalless draw against Dinamo Zagreb.

It was CSKA’s successive draw in the group having played out a 1-1 draw against Wolfsberger in the opener last week.

Finally, Kelechi Iheanacho was a second-half substitute as Leicester secured an away win over AEK Athens. The Foxes got ahead through a Jamie Vardy penalty in the 18th minute.

Hamza Choudhury doubled Brendan Rodgers side lead in the 39th minute, but Muamer Tankovic pulled one back for the Greek side four minutes after the break.  However, Leicester held on for the win, which gives them six points out of a possible six.