Nigerians Abroad: Mixed Fortunes For Osigwe, Okoye As Simy Scores Again

It was a weekend for mixed fortunes for Nigerian stars that were in action in different European Leagues as the season reaches its business end

In the Eredivisie, Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye made his 23rd league appearance of the season, but he was on the losing side as Sparta Rotterdam suffered a 2-0 loss at Az Alkmaar.

Jordy Clasie gave the home side the lead in the 13th minute before Dani De Wit doubled the advantage in the 66th minute.

It could have been worse for Sparta, though, if not for Okoye's heroics. The 21-year-old made a whopping eight saves to keep the scoreline respectable for The Castle Lords.

But despite his heroics last night, Okoye has now conceded 33 times in the Dutch top-flight this season, with just seven clean sheets to his name.

While Okoye was on the losing side, one of his rivals for the Super Eagles goalkeeping position, Sebastian Osigwe, kept his second clean sheet in as many games to help Lugano beat Lausanne-Sport 1-0 in the Swiss Super League. 

However, it was Osigwe's first clean sheet in the Swiss top-flight this season. Before yesterday, the Swiss-born Nigerian goalkeeper had conceded six times in five league games this campaign.

Meanwhile, in the Italian Serie A, Simy Nwankwo scored his 16th league goal of the season, but it was not enough to give Crotone the win against Spezia.

Simy gave Crotone a 2-1 lead, but Spezia scored twice in the final minutes of the game to secure a dramatic 3-2 victory.

The former Gil Vicente forward is now just one goal away from matching Yakubu Aiyegbeni as the Nigerian to have scored the most goals in a single campaign in Europe's top five leagues this millennium.

Finally, in Belgium, Super Eagles hopeful, Ike Ugbo, scored a brace on Saturday to help Cercle Brugge to a 3-0 win over Oud-Heverlee in Belgium's Jupiler League.

The on-loan Chelsea star now has 15 goals in the league this season, just behind four other players, including Paul Onuachu, who sits atop with 26 goals.