Super Eagles Watch: Osimhen, Iwuala excel in wins; Simon, Awoniyi subdued in defeats

After a fine Friday night of good football, more Nigerian internationals were involved in the thick of action across Africa and Europe on Saturday, Soccernet.ng reports.

Victor Osimhen scored a second consecutive brace in the Italian Serie A to inspire Napoli to a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Udinese at the Diego Maradona Stadium.

Osimhen, the most expensive African player ever, now has 11 league goals this term, which earned him a place in the history books.

In France, Moses Simon could not help Cup finalists Nantes avoid a 0-1 home loss to ten-man champions Lille.

Timothy Weah was sent off in the 64th minute, but Lille held to their halftime lead courtesy of Amadou Onana’s 41st-minute strike.

In the English Championship, Semi Ajayi was a member of the West Bromwich Albion defence that conceded two goals against Bristol City at the Ashton Gate.

But Karlan Ahearne-Grant’s second-half penalty and Adam Reach’s late, late equaliser earned the Baggies a 2-2 away draw.

In the German Bundesliga, Nigeria’s Kevin Akpoguma’s decent display did not stop Hoffenheim from succumbing to a 3-0 loss at Hertha Berlin.

The story was not different for Taiwo Awoniyi, who suffered a painful 4-0 away defeat to champions Bayern Munich. The Nigerian featured for over an hour but could not end his goalless run against the German giants.

In the Russian Premier League, Victor Moses was introduced at halftime as Spartak Moscow held their hosts Nizhny Novgorod to a 1-1 draw in their matchday 22 clash.

With eight games left to play, Spartak’s European dreams are all but over, with the ninth-place Muscovites stuck on 27 points, 11 behind Sochi that currently occupy the last UEFA Conference League qualifying spot.

Nigerian attackers Kingsley Eduwo and Anayo Iwuala made all the difference for ES Tunis as the Tunisian champions thrashed Botswanan side Jwaneng Galaxy 3-0 away from home in the CAF Champions League.

Eduwo struck a brace that sandwiched Iwuala’s first continental goal for ES Tunis.

Chidozie Awaziem cleared every doubt about his fitness for Nigeria’s crucial clash against Ghana when he featured from start to finish to help Alanyaspor compound Goztepe’s relegation troubles with a 2-0 away win.

In Cyprus, Nigerian shot-stopper Francis Uzoho was left on the bench as Omonia Nicosia earned a 1-1 draw at AEL. A similar scenario played out in South Africa, where goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi was an unused sub as Kaizer Chiefs fell to an embarrassing 0-1 defeat to Golden Arrows on home soil.

The evening, however, ended on a brilliant note for Super Eagles’ number one gloves Maduka Okoye, who delivered a man-of-the-match performance in Sparta Rotterdam’s 0-0 draw at NEC Nijmegen.

The 22-year-old made five saves, two of which were from shots inside the box, to keep his second clean sheet in as many games in March.