Osimhen, Iheanacho, others shine in Europe

Nigerians Victor Osimhen and Kelechi Iheanacho were among the African scorers in the major European leagues at the weekend. Osimhen lifted his Serie A goal tally for the season to 16 by netting twice for leaders Napoli in a 3-0 victory at lowly Spezia. Iheanacho made the most of only his second Premier League start […]

Nigerians Victor Osimhen and Kelechi Iheanacho were among the African scorers in the major European leagues at the weekend.

Osimhen lifted his Serie A goal tally for the season to 16 by netting twice for leaders Napoli in a 3-0 victory at lowly Spezia.

Iheanacho made the most of only his second Premier League start this season for Leicester City by scoring a goal and creating two others in a 4-2 win at Aston Villa.

Below are African headline-makers across Europe last weekend:

ENGLAND

BRYAN MBEUMO, YOANE WISSA (Brentford)
Mbeumo made one and scored one as Brentford continued their stunning form by beating Southampton 3-0 to climb to seventh.

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The Cameroonian’s cross teed up Ben Mee to open the scoring and Democratic Republic of Congo forward Wissa then set up Mbeumo to sweep home.

KELECHI IHEANACHO (Leicester)
Iheanacho took his chance to shine on just his second Premier League start this season in Leicester’s win at Villa.

He headed home his fourth goal of the campaign and then teed up Tete to strike on his debut for the Foxes. That was after assisting James Maddison’s goal earlier.

JEFFREY SCHLUPP, CHEICK DOUCOURE (Crystal Palace)
Schlupp flicked home Malian Doucoure’s shot to pull a goal back for Palace in a 2-1 defeat at Manchester United.

But the Ghanaian’s goal was merely a consolation as United’s 10 men held on to win.

SPAIN

FRANCK KESSIE (Barcelona)
Brought on after an early injury to Sergio Busquets in Barcelona’s 3-0 win over Sevilla, the Ivory Coast international took time to settle.
However, it was his fine footwork and neat dinked pass to Jordi Alba that helped Barca break the deadlock.

JOSEPH AIDOO (Celta Vigo)
The Ghana defender and his side were far from tight at the back during Celta’s thrilling 4-3 win at Real Betis, but he played a crucial role in the victory.

Aidoo’s superb header gave the Galicians a 4-2 lead in the second half.

ITALY

VICTOR OSIMHEN (Napoli)
His latest double in a 3-0 win at Spezia kept Napoli 13 points clear at the top.

Osimhen pounced on a defensive error to double Napoli’s lead in the 68th minute and five minutes later rolled home an easy finish.

GERMANY

SEBASTIEN HALLER (Borussia Dortmund)
In his second start for the club since coming back from testicular cancer, Haller scored his first goal for Dortmund in a 5-1 home win over Freiburg.

He headed in his club’s third goal midway through the second half off a cross.

FRANCE

HABIB DIALLO (Strasbourg)
The Senegalese got both goals in a 2-0 victory over Montpellier as Strasbourg won at home for the first time in this campaign despite playing for an hour with 10 men.

Diallo struck after just 13 seconds – the second fastest Ligue 1 goal this term – and netted again on the stroke of half-time to move up to eight goals.

ACHRAF HAKIMI (Paris Saint-Germain)
A star of Morocco’s run to the World Cup semi-finals, Hakimi has rediscovered his best form at the club level too and was pivotal in PSG’s come-from-behind 2-1 win against Toulouse.

The defender cut in from the left and curled an unstoppable left-footed shot into the far corner from outside the box for the equaliser – his fourth goal this season. He then teed up Lionel Messi to bend in the winner in trademark style.