Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen was off to a dream home debut in the French League one, scoring twice Lille’s 2-1 win over FC Nantes.
With so much expectations on his shoulders, the former FIFA U-17 golden boot winner was given his debut by Head Coach Christophe Galtier as he led the line in a 4-2-3-1 formation for the hosts.
The 20-year-old however needed just 19 minutes to announce his arrival to the fans at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, cooling controlling a long clearance from the defence before showing composure and strength to finish off in super fashion for 1-0.
Zeki Çelik then put through his own goal six minutes after the restart before the impressive Osimhen then sent the fans into ecstasy after netting what proved to be the winner on the 80th minute from an impossible angle after being played through by Zeki Çelik.
The Nigerian was rightly adjudged man of the match, finishing with a game rating of 8.2, scoring from his both shots on target and also completing 72.7% of his passes.
Super Eagles dazzling winger, Samuel Chukwueze on the other hand warmed up for the 2019/2020 LaLiga season in style as he scored once and was fully involved in another three to help Villarreal to an entertaining 4-3 win over Bologna which also had Kingsley Michael on parade.
Having also impressed in his side’s last outing against CF La Nucia, the 20-year-old was well involved from the start of the whistle as the Yellow Submarines took the lead on six minutes via the boots of Moi Gomez.
Argentina striker Rodrigo Palacio then drew Bologna level on 24 minutes as both sides went into the break level.
Villarreal did, however, retake the lead three minutes after the hour mark when the fleet-footed Chukwueze was fouled in a tempting area with midfielder Santi Cazorla netting from the resulting free-kick to make it 2-1.
Chukwueze then made it 3-1 four minutes later as he maneuvered his way past two markers before perfectly placing a low shot that beat the goalkeeper to record his first goal in preseason.
But the Italian side clawed their way back into the encounter with strikes from Federico Santander and Takehiro Tomiyasu before a swift counter from Villarreal saw Gerard Moreno make it 4-3 to ensure they go into next week’s LaLiga opener against Granada with plenty confidence.
By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde
Twitter @profseunoyediji
