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Nigerian players in the English Premier League fired blanks this weekend, after a bright performance last week. JOHNNY EDWARD followed the exploits of Nigerians like Alhassan, Offia who were on target for their respective teams in other European leagues in this edition of ROUNDUP
England
EPL
Iwobi (Everton), Dennis, Awoniyi (Nottingham Forest)
Taiwo Awoniyi was handed his second start of the season for Nottingham Forest in their 1-1 draw away at Everton. The former Union Berlin striker played for 61 minutes before he was replaced by Morgan Gibbs-White in the 61st minute.
Emmanuel Dennis did not make his much-awaited Nottingham Forest debut after being named among the nine substitutes at Goodison Park. The 25-year-old watched from the bench as his team shared the points with the Toffees.
Alex Iwobi in his 100 appearances for Everton played the entire duration of the game in midfield alongside Nathan Patterson, Tom Davies and Vitaliy Mykolenko.
According to Squawka, Iwobi won 100 per cent of his duels and completed all of his take-ons in the first half. He also won all his duels. He also won possession more times than any other player (11).
Aribo (Southampton), Iheanacho, Ndidi (Leicester City)
Wilfred Ndidi played for 90 minutes in his third start for Leicester City as they suffered a 2-1 loss to Southampton who paraded Joe Aribo for 88 minutes.
Aribo was booked in the 81st minute for simulation. The former Rangers star was played through by Stuart Armstrong but went down in an attempt to win a penalty. His actions saw him cautioned.
Kelechi Iheanacho came on for Harvey Barnes in the 76th minute. It was the second substitute appearance for the forward this season.
Onyeka (Brentford), Adarabioyo (Fulham)
Frank Onyeka was an unused substitute for Brentford who lost 3-2 to Fulham in a keenly contested game. The Nigerian midfielder has seen only 10 minutes of action after three games.
Nigerian-British-born defender, Tosin Adarabioyo was on for 90 minutes in his side’s win.
Troost-Ekong, Okoye, Kalu, Dele-Bashiru (Watford)
William Troost-Ekong and goalkeeper Maduka Okoye played no part as Watford played a goalless draw with hosts Preston at Deepdale Stadium on Saturday.
The team also missed the services of Nigerian duo Tom Dele-Bashiru and Samuel Kalu who are nursing injuries as well. The draw put Watford into second position with nine points from five matches, two points more than ninth-placed Preston.
SCOTLAND
Ayo Obileye (Livingston)
Obileye posted a decent performance in defense for Livingston who lost 1-0 to Motherwell on Saturday. It was his fourth appearance this season albeit scoring once.
Italy
Victor Osimhen (Napoli)
Osimhen was on target for Napoli as they defeated newly promoted Monza 4-0 at the Diego Maradona Stadium on Sunday.
The Nigerian scored the Naples second goal to score his second goal of the current campaign. He was however substituted in the 84th minute for Adam Ounas.
Ademola Lookman (Atalanta)
Lookman started from the bench as Atalanta defeated champions AC Milan 1-0 at the Gewiss Stadium on Sunday.
After an impressive debut where he got on the score sheet, the 25-year-old returned to the substitute role but was brought on in the ???? and impressed for the Black and Blues.
Success (Udinese), Nwankwo (Salernitana)
Isaac Success failed to score for the second game in a row for Udinese who relied on Marco Silvestri’s heroics in goal to hold off Simy Nwankwo’s Salernitana to a goalless draw despite the dismissal of Nehuen Perez. The former Watford player was replaced by Beto in the 80th minute.
Ola Aina (Torino)
Aina made his second Serie A start for Torino who shared a point apiece with Lazio on Saturday. The Nigerian defender played the entire duration of the game and had one tackle and one clearance in the draw.
Belgium
Ibrahim Alhassan (Beerschot)
Alhassan came on for Andi Koshi in the 65th minute to salvage a point for Beerschot who held Standard Liege II to a 2-2 draw in the Belgian second division on Friday. The Nigerian scored with four minutes left to play the encounter in what was his first appearance of the season.
FRANCE
Moses Simon (Nantes)
Simon was in action for the entire duration of Nantes’ 2-1 loss to Olympique Marseille at The Orange Velodrome on Saturday.
The 25-year-old made two key passes in the clash against The Olympians and was also guilty of missing two big chances that could have salvaged a point for the away side.
HOLLAND
Calvin Bassey (Ajax)
Bassey made his much-awaited Eredivisie debut for Ajax in the 1-0 win over Sparta Rotterdam on Sunday. The Super Eagles defenders partnered Jurrien Timber in the heart of defence for the reigning Dutch champions. He had four clearances and 98 percent pass accuracy in the encounter.
PORTUGAL
Zaidu Sanusi (Porto)
The Nigeria left-back, Sanusi helped reigning Portuguese champions, FC Porto, record their second win of the season after they thrashed rivals Sporting Lisbon 3-0 on Saturday.
Sanusi who featured for 87th completed 83 per cent of his passes and had two clearances and two interceptions.
He also had five recoveries and won 100 per cent of his tackles to help Porto keep a second successive clean sheet in the Portuguese Liga.
The win was the third on the bounce for Porto who sits top of the table on nine points while Sporting is five points adrift in the eighth position.
DENMARK
Raphael Onyedika (Midtjylland)
AC Milan target, Onyedika, played from start to finish for Midtjylland but could not impact the game as his side suffered a 2-0 defeat at home to Aarhus The 21-year-old midfielder 62 touches and played 43 accurate passes with an 87.8% success rate, one of those was a key pass that his teammate failed to convert into a goal.
Onyedika also displayed great passing range in the game, completing four of his six attempted long balls while also finishing the game with a 100 per cent dribble success rate. The Nigerian also won four ground duels and three aerial duels in what was a near-complete midfield display for the Nigerian.
SPAIN
Kenneth Omeruo (Leganes)
The Nigerian defender was on the pitch for 90 minutes as Leganes suffered a 1-0 defeat to Real Oviedo in the La Liga Smarkbank on Sunday.
The Super Eagles player had an impressive performance but could stop the away side from the defeat.
SWEDEN
Henry Offia (Trelleborgs)
Offia scored twice in two minutes for Trelleborgs who defeated Dalkurd 4-2 in a Swedish second division clash on Sunday. The former youth international scored in the 44th and 46 minute of the encounter to hand his side a 3-1 lead into the break.
TURKEY
Emeka Eze (Eyuspor)
Emeka Eze scored his second goal of the season in his second start for Eyuspor who drew 1-1 draw away at Samsunspor in a Turkish third division clash on Saturday.
NORWAY
Ipalibo, Friday (Stromsgodset)
Duo Jack Ipalibo and Fred Friday were in fine form, both scoring as Stromsgodset hammered Jerv 6-0 in the Norwegian Eliteseren on Sunday.
Ipalibo scored his side’s second in the 58th minute, before setting up his countryman Friday two minutes later for their third.
Friday then completed his brace and Stromsgodset’s sixth goal in the 88th minute for the emphatic win.
