9th January 2025 Craven Cottage, Fulham, London, England FA Cup Third Round Football, Fulham versus Watford Alex Iwobi of Fulham runs with the ball controls the ball under pressure. Photo by IMAGO
Several Nigerian football stars were in action across Europe and Asia on Thursday, January 8, 2025. Here’s a roundup of their performances, courtesy of Soccernet.ng.
Alex Iwobi delivered a stellar performance as Fulham cruised into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 4-1 victory over Watford at Craven Cottage.
Iwobi completed 80% of his 50 passes, registered one key pass, and attempted three shots before being substituted in the 66th minute for youngster Becket Fabrice-Martial Godo.
However, international teammate Calvin Bassey was an unused substitute, watching the entire match from the bench.
Bassey has been a regular starter for Fulham in the Premier League, playing every minute in 19 of the team’s 20 league games this season.
In Saudi Arabia, Odion Ighalo was on target as Al Wehda secured a 2-1 away win over Al Fateh in the league.
Ighalo doubled the visitors’ lead in the 26th minute after Australian forward Craig Goodwin had opened the scoring 12 minutes earlier.
Algerian Sofiane Bendebka halved the deficit early in the second half, but Al Wehda held on for their third win of the campaign, snapping a two-game losing streak.
The result lifted Al Wehda out of the relegation zone, while Al Fateh remain rooted to the bottom of the table with six points from 14 matches.
Ighalo has now scored four league goals this season, trailing Al Hilal’s Aleksandar Mitrovic (12 goals) and Al Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo (11 goals).
Meanwhile, Super Eagles winger Saviour Godwin scored his third league goal of the season, but his effort wasn’t enough to prevent Al Okhdood from falling to a 3-1 defeat against Al Nassr.
Godwin gave Al Okhdood an early lead in the 6th minute, raising hopes of an upset against a star-studded Al Nassr team featuring Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mané.
However, a brace from Mané and Ronaldo’s 11th goal of the season secured victory for the title contenders.
In Turkey, Fenerbahçe eased to a comfortable 3-0 win over Kasımpaşa at the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium in Istanbul.
Bright Osayi-Samuel featured for the entire match for Fenerbahçe, while Kasımpaşa’s Nigerian defender Kenneth Omeruo was unavailable as he continues to recover from injury.
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