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By Johnny Edward.
Nigerian forwards Victor Boniface, Terem Moffi and Gift Orban will be fighting tooth and nail to help their respective clubs nick a place in the last four of Europe’s second and third-tier league competitions on Thursday (today), PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
All three players were in fully involved in their respective clubs’ first-leg encounters, which ended in stalemates. While duo Boniface and Moffi were on target, Orban failed to score.
Boniface, the only Nigerian left in the Europa League this season, will lead Belgians Union Saint-Gilliose charges when they host Bayer Leverkusen at the Lotto Park in Brussels.
Both sides drew 1-1 in the first leg at the BayArena in Germany, with Florian Wirtz salvaging a draw for the hosts eight minutes from time after Boniface’s 51st minute strike had shot the visitors ahead.
Buoyed by the form of Boniface, the tournament’s top scorer with six goals and two assists, Union are confident of securing a place in the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League.
“We knew it would be a difficult match (versus Leverkusen), so we are happy with the draw,” Boniface told Het Nieuwsblad.
“We can be proud that we are already there, against a very strong team. But now we are looking forward to the return match in Brussels.”
However, Leverkusen will head to Belgium in excellent form themselves, having remained unbeaten in each of their last 11 matches after securing a 0-0 draw away to Wolfsburg on Sunday.
Union have recorded two wins, a draw and a defeat in their Europa League home games this campaign, and they will be out to extend their five-match home winning streak in all competitions.
They scored 11 and conceded five in that stretch, scoring first in four of the six contests.
For Moffi, he will be aiming to make history with Nice as he eyes his 20th goal of the season when the Les Aiglons take on Basel in the second leg of their Europa Conference League quarter-final at the Allianz Riviera today.
Nice have never reached the semi-finals of a UEFA competition and now find themselves in a good position to do so, but they are winless in five games, having not won since their second leg triumph over Sheriff Tiraspol in the last 16 of the competition.
The first leg against Basel saw Moffi bag a brace, including a sensational overhead kick goal, but a double from Zeki Amdouni earned Basel a share of the spoils, which means it’s now all to play for in the south of France.
Back-to-back defeats domestically following a draw against lowly Angers means Nice’s preparation for the tie has not been ideal.
But if anyone is likely to be the difference maker in a Nice shirt, it will surely be Moffi, as he continues to go from strength to strength in his breakthrough season, with 19 goals in 30 games for Lorient and Nice, who he joined last January.
Orban on his part is seeking to end his three-game goals drought for Gent, when they battle West Ham in London today.
The forward has been impressive for the Buffaloes since he arrived in January from Stabaek.
The 20-year-old, who holds the record for the fastest hat-trick in UEFA club competitions, has scored 14 goals in 14 games for Gent, who are fourth in the Belgian Jupiler League and five goals in five games in the Europa Conference League.