Ghana/Nigeria: Partey, other Black Stars respond to Osimhen with goals
Black Stars players themselves replied to Osimhen with good performances of their own, with Partey leading the line with one of Arsenal's goals in their win over Leicester City.
When Victor Osimhen scored a brace in Napoli’s 2-1 win over Verona at the weekend, many Nigerians were quick to liken the brace to a warning to Ghana’s Black Stars.
However, Black Stars players themselves replied to Osimhen with good performances of their own, with Thomas Partey leading the line with one of Arsenal's goals in their win over Leicester City.
It was quite the statement from the Ghanaian enforcer but since that moment, his contribution to Mikel Arteta’s midfield at the Emirates has been remarkable.
He arrived in North London amidst a wave of comparisons to Patrick Vieira and he arguably struggled under the pressure of that.
Arteta was also keen to single out Partey, but hinted that he would keep pushing him to put in better performances on a consistent basis.
"He [Partey] was involved in both goals. You can see he was player of the month last year and he’s come a long way. Now it’s about consistency and keeping doing it.
"Probably being in his neck every day because he needs it. But I think it comes from the player. When he excepts the reality you can’t expect that to change unless you change what you do."
Speaking at full-time on Sky Sports, pundit Jamie Redknapp typified his display perfectly, saying: “He’s lovely on the ball, Arsenal fans have been crying out for this for many many years.”
Redknapp continued: “He’s got that aura about him, he’s got everything.”
It was easy to see why he was being raved about as Partey not only opened the scoring with a rare goal – a header from a corner – but he was also vital in the second strike.
His header was met by the hand of Caglar Soyuncu inside the box and after a long deliberation with VAR, Anthony Taylor finally pointed to the penalty spot.
Partey coasted through the game with absolute ease, strolling past tackles, breaking the play up and playing pinpoint balls with sublime accuracy.
According to SofaScore, the Ghana international won 100% of his ground and aerial duels, while completing 83% of his passes too.
A tally of four tackles and two interceptions completed his afternoon’s work, putting in a near-perfect display for Arteta.
Very swiftly, Partey has gone from a 4/10 to a 7/10 every week. However, on this display, he’s heading closer to the magic 10.
The likes of Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard are the standout performers for the Gunners right now, but without Partey, they’d certainly be a worse team; he is the glue that binds the Arsenal spine together.
Elsewhere Ghana defender Alexander Djiku also scored his first Ligue 1 goal of the season for Strasbourg
Djiku’s maiden goal was against Monaco at home.
The Ghana international defender conjured a sensational bicycle kick after a scramble following a corner in the 23rd minute at Stade de la Meinau to open the scoring.
It was Djiku's second goal for the club since joining them three seasons ago from relegated Caen.
He was making his 22nd league appearance for Le Racing.
The centre back is expected to feature for Ghana in this month's 2022 FIFA World Cup final playoff against Nigeria.
Djiku made a huge impression at this year's Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon despite a shambolic display by the Black Stars.
Also at the weekend, midfield Majeed Ashimeru was named Man of the Match as Anderlecht beat Royal Antwerp 2-1 at home on Sunday, 13 March 2022, in the Jupiler League.
The Ghana international provided the assist for Josua Zirkzee to open the scoring in the 24th minute.
Ashimeru covered a lot of grass with his high pressing mobility and scored a FotMob rating of 8.3.
He was also the most fouled player in the match and won the most tackles on the pitch.
The 24-year-old's physicality has improved as won the duels (8) in the match.
Antwerp levelled in the 42nd minute through Alhassan Yusuf before Lior Refaelov converted a penalty on 59 minutes to give Anderlecht the win.
The Black Stars of Ghana and the Super Eagles will be battling it out in the must-win Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifier slated for March 25, 2022, in Accra and March 29, 2022, in Abuja.
