Iwobi to continue expression, Rodgers explains Ndidi sub, goals from Umar and Simon
Round-up of how Naija boys performed during the weekend with their various clubs across Europe
Super Eagles and Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi says manager Frank Lampard is giving him full confidence to express himself on the pitch in order to continue his excellent form.
The Nigeria international has excelled in a number of roles since Lampard took the managerial reins in January and has been particularly impressive in central midfield so far this campaign.
Iwobi was once again a stand-out performer in the Blues' 1-1 draw at Brentford on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Wilfred Ndidi barely made an impact in Leicester’s 2-1 loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge as he started the game from the bench.
Brendan Rodgers, the under-fire Leicester City coach chose to go with Boubacar Soumare in the defensive midfield position in place of regular suspect Ndidi.
Rodgers explaining his decision said they wanted to be quicker in the attacking third of the game and needed a player who gave them that option.
He said Soumare was quicker in the third and he has trained well.
“We wanted to come through the pitch quicker. Soumare has been great in training and he’s committed now to staying at the club, which is great,” he told the BBC.
“He (Soumare) allows us to play through the thirds quickly and that was the reason for him coming in instead.”
Leicester have had a terrible start to the season, winning no game out of four and drawing three times already.
Ndidi has long been one of Rodgers’ trusted lieutenants at the club but with consistent losses at the club, he has had to tinker with his systems and has the Nigerian at the end of it.
Kelechi Iheanacho was a 55th-minute substitution for Soumare in the game.
Elsewhere in the Spanish Laliga, Sadiq Umar scored the winning goal for UD Almeria in their 2-1 home win over Sevilla.
The goal was Umar's second goal of the season after he netted in his team's draw against Elche.
In France, Moses Simon led Nantes to their first win of the season, as he contributed a goal and an assist in their 3-1 win over Toulouse.
Simon assisted Nantes equalizer in the 50th minute before putting the ice on the cake for the Canaries in the hour mark scoring 3-1.
The score line ended that way, as Nantes recorded their first win of the season.
In the Ligue Un still, Terem Moffi was the star of the show for Lorient. Moffi found two goals in Lorient's 2-1 win over Clermont Foot.
He converted a penalty in the 24th minute before going on to double his team's lead in the 41st minute with a well-taken strike. Lorient conceded via a Muhammed Cham effort but it was only a consolation for Foot, as Lorient ran out winner to climb to 6th on the log.
Ex Junior International, Victor Okoh Boniface scored after two minutes as his side Union Saint-Gilloise defeated Anderlecht 2-1.
