The 10 best Nigerian stars of the weekend: From Boniface and Ariyo to Dessers and Sanusi

The 2024/25 league season is back in full flow across several countries in Europe and Soccernet.ng brings you the ten most outstanding displays of Nigerian stars at the weekend.

Victor Boniface; Bayer Leverkusen 2 – 2 Stuttgart

Victor Boniface picked up where he left off last season as he was on target as Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen lifted the German Super Cup on Saturday.

Boniface tapped the opening goal inside the BayArena but VfB Stuttgart turned the tie around with strikes from Millot and Undav.

However, a last-minute goal from Patrik Schick helped ten-man Bayer claw their way back into the game before triumphing 4-3 on penalties.

Nigeria’s Nathan Tella also featured in the encounter.

The Super Cup is the third title for Boniface and Tella since joining Bayer Leverkusen last year, adding it to the Bundesliga and German Cup double they won last season.

Tolu Arokodare; Beerschot 3 – 4 Genk

Genk picked up their second win of the season with an entertaining 4-3 First Division A victory at Beerschot.

Tolu Arokodare was the star of the encounter with the Nigerian forward netting two goals – the first to give the visitors a 2-1 lead and the second ended up being the winning goal.

The former Cologne forward now has four goals in his first four league games of the season in Belgium.

Roosa Ariyo; KuPS 8 – 0 Ilves

Super Falcons star Roosa Ariyo was one of the star performers in a KuPS squad that ran riot at the Väre Areena in Kuopio, Finland.

Ariyo bagged a brace – the first and fourth goals – as KuPS showed no mercy in sending Ilves to the cleaners in a one-sided encounter.

Despite the win, though, second-place KuPS have some catching up to do on Kansallinen Liiga leaders HJK, who boast a 12-point advantage after 16 rounds of matches.

Umar Muhammed; TPS 5 – 3 KäPa

Still in Finland, Umar Muhammed was at his ruthless, efficient best in front of goal to help TPS power to a 5 – 3 victory at home to KäPa in the Ykkösliiga.

Muhammed scored two well-taken goals – the first to make it 2-0 for the hosts and the second to extend their lead to 4-1 – as TPS made light work of their struggling visitors inside the Veritas Stadion in Turku.

Tosin Kehinde; Ferencváros 1 – 0 Újpest

After their disappointing 1-1 draw in midweek against FC Midtjylland that knocked them out of the UEFA Champions League, Ferencváros were heading towards another ugly draw at home to Újpest when Tosin Kehinde was introduced from the bench.

The Manchester United academy product then went on to score the winning goal – a fine solo run followed by a well-struck left-footed finish – in stoppage time to hand Ferencváros their third straight win of the league campaign.

Interesting, it is Kehinde’s first league goal for the club he joined from Randers last year.

Oriola Sunday; Omiya Ardija 2 – 0 Zweigen Kanazawa

After two uneventful league showings for the club he joined in July, Oriola Sunday finally showed why the club paid top money to secure his arrival from Tokushima Vortis.

The 21-year-old attacker smashed two goals past Zweigen Kanazawa to hand Omiya Ardija a fine 2-0 victory – their 17th in the J3 League.

League leaders Omiya Ardija are the favourites to gain promotion at the end of the campaign as they boast a healthy advantage over their closest challengers, Azul Claro Numazu.

Cyriel Dessers; Rangers 2 – 0 St. Johnstone

Despite being under the harsh floodlights every week, Cyriel Dessers continues to show his best form for Rangers and he was crucial to their latest win over St. Johnstone.

 

The Nigeria international broke the deadlock just past the hour mark before assisting the second of the afternoon as defending champions Rangers cruised to the quarterfinals of the League Cup.

Ridwan Sanusi; Podbrezová 7 – 1 Skalica

Podbrezová secured their biggest Super Lig win in over ten years following a memorable 7 – 1 victory at home to Skalica.

Ridwan Sanusi played a key role in a record-making encounter as he scored one and assisted another, giving fans inside the ZELPO Aréna Podbrezová a lot to cheer.

Justice Ohajunwa; Floreşti 0 – 8 Zimbru

There was no better player inside the Stadion Dinamo in Bender, Moldova, than Nigeria’s Justice Ohajunwa who found the net for times as Zimbru ate up Floreşti for dinners, leaving behind no crumbs.

It is the first time in his career that Ohajunwa, 23, would score four goals but it is not a flash-in-the-pan display as he has now hit the target in each of his last four games.

Compatriot Emmanuel Abaribe scored the last of the eight goals for Zimbru.

Moses Cobnan; Krasnodar 2 – 1 Nizhny Novgorod

Krasnodar were losing 0-1 at home to Nizhny Novgorod when Moses Cobnan came off the bench in the 70th minute.

Within ten minutes of his introduction, Lagos-born Cobnan struck twice to turn the tie in Krasnodar’s favour and sealed their second Russian Premier League win this term.

Cobnan, 21, joined Krasnodar in January 2021 from Podbrezová for €1 million.

Honourable Mentions

Maduka Okoye was his usual dependable self in goal for Udinese as they started their Serie A season with a fine 1-1 draw at Bologna.

Fisayo Dele-Bashiru impressed on his league debut as Lazio defeated Venezia 3-1.

Ebenezer Akinsanmiro also did well on his Serie B debut to help Sampdoria secure a share of the spoils following a 2-2 draw at Frosinone.

Gabriel Osho excelled on his Ligue 1 debut, propelling newly promoted AJ Auxerre to a brilliant 2-1 victory over OGC Nice.