Super Eagles stars celebrate goals across Europe
it wasn’t only the strikers that had a goal-scoring weekend, as some defenders also joined the goals feast
After enduring heartbreaks with their various teams across Europe in the penultimate weekend, a good number of Super Eagles players had it good last weekend with their clubs, with some even contributing goals and assists.
Interestingly, it wasn’t only the strikers that had a goal-scoring weekend, as some defenders also put in an extra shift to score as they helped the course of their respective teams.
PREMIUM TIMES highlights some of the best performances from Nigerian players across Europe last weekend.
Goal scorers
Victor Osimhen (AS Roma vs Napoli)
The gangling striker had a good outing; scoring his third consecutive goal for League toppers, Napoli against Roma on Sunday.
The goal by Osimhen also helped Luciano Spalletti’s side set a record of winning 11 straight victories in the League.
Before Sunday’s feat, the only time they were close was 10 straight wins in 1986 when the late Diego Maradona was captain of the Naples-based club.
Osimhen scored in the 80th minute after he hijacked the ball past former Manchester United defender, Chris Smalling.
Though Osimhen has scored a good number of goals since he joined Napoli., Sunday’s was his first goal against a top-six club in Italy.
Taiwo Awoniyi ( Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool)
Taiwo Awoniyi marked his third start of the season with a goal for his floundering club, Nottingham against Liverpool, which coincidentally is the forward's former club.
The 55th-minute goal by the Nigerian striker proved to be the winning goal as Nottingham Forest battled to a 1-0 victory over the Reds.
Going into the game against Liverpool, Forest were in a rough patch with no victory in the last two months.
Their last victory before Saturday’s stunning lone-goal win against the Reds was Awoniyi’s first start where he also scored the winning goal against West Ham.
Despite the worries of being at the bottom of the table, Awoniyi could still hold respite with his record of being the first player to score in all his three starts for Nottingham Forest.
Paul Onuachu ( Royal Antwerp vs KRC Genk)
After starting the season slowly, Onuachu has been in red-hot form in his last five games; scoring an astonishing eight goals for his Belgian club.
Onuachu’s latest exploit was the brace scored against Alhassan Yussuf’s Royal Antwerp in a 3-1 victory on Sunday.
Earlier,, Onuachu scored a brace in a 6-1 thrashing of KVC Westerlo last Tuesday.
Peter Olayinka ( Slavia Praha vs Sparta Praha)
Peter Olayinka scored the fourth goal for Slavia Prague in a 4-0 big win over Sparta Praha on Sunday. Olayinka scored in the 48th minute to double his goals in the Liga league for the Czech Giants this season.
Leon Balogun ( QPR vs Wigan)
Balogun scored the winning goal for QPR in their 2-1 win against Wigan.
It was the defender’s first goal for the season in eight appearances for the Championship side and he did score when it mattered.
The Super Eagles defender scored via a header as he connected well to Stefan Johansen’s corner kick in the 24th minute, two minutes after Wigan’s Nathan Broadhead had cancelled Sam Field’s 12th minute opener.
Troost Ekong (Watford vs Luton)
Troost Ekong scored his first goal since November 2020 for Watford in a 4-0 win over Luton at the Weekend. The Super Eagles defender jabbed home a header from Joao Pedro’s cross in the 45th minute of the game.
Ola Aina (Udinese vs Torino)
Just like other Super Eagles defenders, Ola Aina also got on the scoresheet on Sunday for Torino in their 2-1 victory over Udinese.
It was the first time the defender was scoring since 17th February 2021 when he scored for Fulham against Burnley.
Assists
Alex Iwobi (Everton vs Crystal Palace)
Iwobi has continued to make the headlines every week for his club, Everton, as he bagged two assists in the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Iwobi's first assist was for Dominic Calvert-Lewin who just returned from injury in the 11th minute. Having been involved in multiple chances created by the Toffees, Iwobi also helped Dwight Mcneil score his second goal of the season in the 84th minute.
Moses Simon
Simon was instrumental, as 10-man Nantes battled to a 1-1 draw against OGC Nice on Sunday.
Nantes scored first after Simon’s pass found Ignatius Ganago who then slotted home for the visitors in the 49th minute, but Nicolas Pepe denied Nantes the maximum point with his 97th-minute equaliser.
This was the second assist for Simon, who had scored four goals for Nantes in 10 games in the Ligue 1 this season.
