A number of Nigerian footballers were in action on Wednesday, August 28, and Soccernet.ng here presents the highlights of the top performers.
England
Taiwo Awoniyi’s night ended in disappointment as Nottingham Forest crashed out of the League Cup following a penalty shootout defeat to Newcastle United.
Fulltime scores stood at 1-1 before Awoniyi missed the crucial penalty that sent the Reds out of the competition.
Frank Onyeka was in action for Brentford as they defeated Colchester United by a lone goal to advance to the third round of the competition.
Nigeria-eligible forward Kevin Schade assisted Keane Lewis-Potter for Brentford’s winning strike.
Austria
Jonathan Alukwu made his debut for ASKÖ Oedt and netted the club’s second goal in their 2-3 loss to Austria Vienna in the Austria Cup.
Alukwu, 21, only moved to Europe in June to join Oedt after ending his spell with Sporting Lagos.
Belgium
Jordan Torunarigha and Gent advanced to the group stage of the Europa Conference League after a 1-0 second-leg victory over Partizan. Gent won the first leg 1-0 to advance on a 2-0 aggregate scoreline.
Malta
Nigeria’s Franklin Sasere and Malta’s Kyrian Nwoko were both on target as Floriana claimed their first Premier League win of the season with an emphatic 3-0 victory at Zabbar St. Patrick.
Saudi Arabia
Former Hull City and Fulham star Jean Michaël Seri made his debut for Al Orubah but it ended badly for the Ivorian midfielder as Odion Ighalo and Al Wehda secured a pleasant 2-1 win.
Ighalo opened the scoring in the first minute of the encounter inside the King Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium in Mecca and Mourad Khodari netted a late winner after Ziyad Al Hunaiti had equalised for the visitors.
Former Super Eagles forward Ighalo has now scored in each of his six seasons in Saudi Arabia.
With 68 goals in 104 appearances, the former Manchester United star is Nigeria’s greatest goalscorer in the history of the Saudi league.
Serbia
Super Eagles star Peter Olayinka and Red Star Belgrade are through to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League after a 3-2 aggregate win over Bodø / Glimt.
Olayinka featured prominently as Red Star Belgrade secured a 2-0 win inside the Stadion Rajko Mitić in Beograd to turn around a 2-1 deficit from the first leg in Bodø.
Slovakia
The Slovakian Cup took centre stage on Wednesday and Kayode Saliman scored his first-ever goal in the competition as Podbrezová forced an 8-0 defeat down the throat of Tatran Chlebnice.
Emmanuel Uchegbu, 19, also made his first mark in the competition as Trenčín mauled down Košeca with a 9-0 win.
At the Futbalové ihrisko ŠK Nová Dedinka, 20-year-old Sheun Emmanuel shone like a million stars after he bagged a brilliant brace during Skalica’s 6-1 thrashing of Nová Dedinka.
Abdulhakim Daneji also delivered a man-of-the-match display as he fired two goals to inspire Stará Ľubovňa to a convincing 4-0 win over Starý Smokovec.
