It has been a brilliant Sunday afternoon for three Nigeria internationals who played crucial roles in leading their clubs to victories in Russia, Scotland and Italy.
Super Eagles defender Bryan Idowu continued his scoring run with his second goal in as many league matches to help Khimki claim an impressive 2-0 win over Rostov at the Rostov Arena in Rostov-na-Donu.
With the game edging towards a stalemate, Russian forward Reziuan Mirzov opened the scoring one minute into injury time before left-back Idowu sealed the victory with a fine effort three minutes later.
Idowu, last weekend, was also among the goalscorers when Khimki lost 2-3 at home to Victor Moses’ Spartak Moscow. The defender is currently on a season-long loan from Lokomotiv Moscow.
In the Scottish Premiership, Joe Aribo marked his return to the Rangers starting eleven with a goal as the Gers secured an excellent 2-0 win over Efe Ambrose’s Livingstone at the Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow.
Aribo had been out injured for a few weeks, missing all of Rangers games in September and Nigeria’s two international friendly matches against Algeria and Tunisia in October.
But the former Charlton Athletic star came off the bench in wins over Celtic and Standard Liege over the past week and showed enough to merit a starting role on Sunday.
And the Super Eagles star took just nine minutes to make Livingston feel his impact before veteran striker Jermaine Defoe double the advantage for Steven Gerrard’s men seven minutes later.
Aribo has scored two goals in four league starts for Rangers this term. The Scottish giants stay on top of the league table with 29 points from 11 games, three more than champions Celtic in second.
In Italy, Victor Osimhen was again a lively attacking reference point for Napoli as Gennaro Gattuso’s men fashioned out a 2-1 win at Benevento.
The newly-promoted home side drew first blood through Roberto Insigne on the half-hour mark but two second-half goals from Lorenzo Insigne and substitute Andrea Petagna turned the encounter in the visitors’ favour.
It’s an expected return to winning ways for the Naples-based club after falling to a shock 1-0 home loss to AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League on Thursday.
