Easter Sunday: A Disappointing Day At The Office For Nigerians In Europe

As Christians were celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, some Super Eagles stars were in action for their club, but it was not a good day at the office for most of them

Moses Simon was the leading Nigerian star in the French Ligue 1, but he could not prevent Nantes from a home defeat at the hands of Nice.

Simon went into the game fresh after missing the last international engagements as his club failed to release him due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Still, he had a below performance as Les Canaries relegation woes continued. Simon was on the pitch for the entire duration, but he never had any effect on the game.

A Kasper Dolberg brace put Nice two goals up inside the opening 30 minutes before Abdoulaye Toure pulled one back for Nantes in the 32nd minute, and it stayed like that.

While Simon struggled, Terem Moffi was impressive in another Ligue 1 match that featured a Nigerian. The 21-year-old set up Laurent Abergel as Lorient boosted their survival hopes with a 1-0 win over Brest. 

Moffi has now scored eight times and registered three assists in 25 league games for Lorient. Meanwhile, Samuel Kalu was expectedly not in the Bordeaux squad that lost at home to Strasbourg.

The winger picked up an injury before the international break, which also ruled him out of the Super Eagles Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

In England, Ola Aina and Josh Maja both featured for Fulham, but they were on the receiving end of a 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa.

Aina played the entire duration of the match, while Maja was a second half substitute. Aleksandar Mitrovic put Fulham ahead in the 61st minute, but a brace from Trezeguet and Ollie Watkins turned the tie around for Villa.

In Germany, Taiwo Awoniyi was again missing as Union Berlin played out a 1-1 draw with city rivals Hertha Berlin at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.

Awoniyi has now missed Union’s last six games due to a muscle injury.