Euro wrap: Okereke, Lookman net Serie A stunners; Iheanacho, Akpom lifts Leicester, Middlesbrough

Below is Soccernet.ng’s blow-by-blow highlight of some of the most notable actions involving Nigerian footballers across European cup and league competitions.

FA Cup

Kelechi Iheanacho, yet again, was Leicester City’s matchwinner as his fine striker saw the Foxes overcome Walsall 1-0 and advance to the next round of the FA Cup.

It will be recalled that Iheanacho’s last goal for LCFC was in the previous round of the competition when his predatory strike ensured a slim away win at Gillingham.

Iheanacho has now scored 17 goals in the FA Cup, seven more than any Nigerian in history.

At St Mary’s Stadium, Joe Aribo and Sam Edozie were in the starting eleven for Southampton as the Saints booked their progress to the fifth round with a 2-1 victory over Blackpool.

However, Semi Ajayi waved his goodbye to the FA Cup after West Brom crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Bristol City.

Championship

Chuba Akpom scored his 14th goal of the campaign to help Middlesbrough claim a 2-0 win over Watford, who had Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye on the bench throughout.

The win saw Boro overtake the Hornets and move to third place on the Championship table.

Serie A

Ademola Lookman scored a fine individual goal to power Atalanta to a straightforward 2-0 win over Sampdoria at the Gewiss Stadium.

The former RB Leipzig star danced past two Sampdoria defenders before unleashing a fearsome drive past the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner for the second goal of the match.

Lookman had seen a header come off the post in the first half shortly before Joakim Mæhle nodded home the hosts’ opening goal.

At the Stadio Giovanni Zini in Cremona, David Okereke scored an incredible goal to give Cremonese a 10th-minute lead in their 2-1 loss to Inter Milan.

Super Eagles striker Cyriel Dessers was a second-half substitute as a brace from Lautaro Martinez handed Inter the win.

Elsewhere, Tyronne Ebuehi saw every minute of action for Empoli in the side’s 2-2 home draw against Torino.

Super Eagles defender, Ola Aina made his long-awaited return from injury as he came off the bench for Il Toro in the 85th minute.

Portugal

There was good news from Portugal as well, as Nigerian full-back Zaidu Sanusi made a successful return from injury in Porto’s 2-0 triumph over Sporting Lisbon in the Taça da Liga.

Sanusi had been injured since November, last playing for the Dragons in a Champions League win over Atletico Madrid.

Turkey

In the Super Lig, Henry Onyekuru and David Akintola provided excellent contributions as Adana Demirspor carved out a 2-1 away win at Sivasspor.

Akintola scored the second goal for the visitors with a fine close-range header in a match where captain Ahmed Musa was a stoppage-time substitute for the home side.