Europa League: Mixed Fortunes For Aribo, Balogun, Olayinka and Chukwueze

The second leg of the Europa League round of 16 took place on Thursday night, but it was a case of mixed fortunes for Nigerian players 

Peter Olayinka came out victorious in the battle of the Super Eagles players as Slavia Prague stunned Joe Aribo and Leon Balogun’s Rangers at the Ibrox Stadium to seal a place in the Europa League quarter-finals.

Having played a 1-1 draw in Prague, Rangers went into the second leg as the favourites and the home advantage.

However, Slavia upset the odds as goals from Peter Olayinka and Nicolae Stanciu sealed a 2-0 victory for the Czech champions.

While the Nigerian striker was the star for his team, it was a bad night for Balogun and Aribo as the former was sent off, while the latter received a yellow card.

Olayinka now has three goals in the Europa League and 10 in all competitions this season.

Meanwhile, at the Estadio La Ceramica, Samuel Chukwueze was impressive as Villarreal sealed their place in the last eight with a 2-0 victory on the night and a 4-0 aggregate score.

Villarreal manager Unai Emery handed Chukwueze a start, and the Nigerian responded by providing the cross for Gerard Moreno’s opener.

Dani Parejo then set up the Spain international in the 36th minute for his second of the night. It stayed like that as Villarreal advanced to the quarter-finals.