France
The French Ligue 1 witnessed matches counting for Day 27 over the weekend with some African players stealing the headlines.
Cameroon’s Felix Eboa Eboa owes a cup of coffee to his goalkeeper Marc- Aurele Caillard for saving a 90th minute penalty he conceded for handling the ball in the box. Guingamp are fighting to beat the drop, so the 0-0 draw against Nantes could be celebrated after all.
22 years old Algerian left-back Youcef Atal got his third goal of the season for Nice against Strasbourg. His goal was the lone goal of the game.
Lyon had a comfortable 5-1 home win against Toulouse, Burkinabe striker Bertrand Traore scored the second goal for Lyon while Mali’s Moussa Dembele got the fourth and fifth for the Gones. There was also good news for Togolese national team coach Claude Leroy as Mathieu Dossevi scored the lone goal for Toulouse, his third for the season two weeks away from their decisive Afcon qualifier against Benin.
Chadian midfielder Casimir Ninga had a very expressive celebration after opening the scores for Caen against the mighty PSG at the 57th minute. His joy lasted just for two minutes as Kylian Mbappe leveled the scores just two minutes later and got the winner at the 87th minute.
Moussa Konate is back at the right time for Amiens. The Senegalese striker who had been on the sidelines for a long time due to injury problems found the back of the net at the 39th minute away to Reims. His Moroccan teammate Yunis Abdelamid unfortunately got an own goal at the 44th and both teams had to settle for a share of the spoils after a 2-2 draw.
In the French second tier, Cameroon’s Bryan Mbuemo opened the scoring for Troyes at the 11th minute in a 2-0 win away to Auxerre.
Senegal’s Ousmane Cissokho got the second for visitors Orleans who beat Lorient 0-3 in an unexpected away win.
England
Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez gave a reminder on why he was the best player in the land two seasons ago. He scored the lone goal in Manchester City’s 1-0 win against Bournemouth. The Algerians 55th minute strike was his 6th goal of the season.
Benin striker Steve Mounie failed to repeat his midweek exploits for struggling Huddersfield town, his lone goal in midweek gave them a much needed win against Wolverhampton. Over the weekend Huddersfield lost by the same score to Brighton and Hove Albion.
Wilfried Zaha is back and Crystal Palace are back. The Ivorian scored his 6th goal of the campaign in style from an assist from Senegalese midfielder Chiekhou Kouyate. Palace earned a 1-3 win against Burnley at Turf Moor.
Italy
There was an entertaining 3-3 draw in match Day 26 in Italy between Empoli and Parma. Parma’s 31 years old striker Gervinho scored the opener at the 13th minute. It was the Ivorian’s 9th league of the season.
In the Serie B, it was a game of mixed emotions for Nigerian forward Umar Sadiq. He scored the second in a 3-1 win for Perugia against Salernitana but he was sent off at the 54th minute of the game.
Spain
Senegalese centre back John Alfred Momar Ndiaye got a 90th minute equalizer for Malaga against Cordoba. He is on loan from Villarreal to Malaga. The game finished 1-1.
Turkey
Two Africans opened their scoring account in the Turkish top flight in round 24 in the game between Bursaspor and Sivasspor. Bursaspor’s Nigerian defender Shehu Abdulahi scored his first of the campaign at the 19th minute. His Senegalese teammate Henri Saivet got their second and his first too of the season at the 62nd. Congo Brazzaville’s 30 years old playmaker Delvin Chanel Ndinga put up a great resistance for Sivasspor, providing an assist and scoring at the 89th minute but it was not enough as Bursaspor carried the day 3-2.
Nigerian super star Victor Moses converted an 84th minute penalty for struggling Fenerbahce to give them a hard earned 3-2 win over Rizespor.
Moroccan midfielder Younnes Belhanda’s equalizer at the 52nd minute away to Erzurum BB helped Galatasaray earn a point. It was the Moroccan’s fourth goal of the season.
In the Turkish second tier, 20 years old Senegalese forward Lamine Diarra scored at the 82nd minute for Elazigspor. The Senegalese Black Mamba as he is popularly known could not prevent a home defeat from Denizlispor whose Nigerian striker Lanre Kehinde found the back of the net twice at the 35th and 41st minutes of the game.
Belgium
Standard Liege failed to make their home advantage count in a 1-1 draw against Royal Excel Mouscron. Nigerian forward Taiwo Awoniyi equalized for Standard at the 60th minute. His teammates Collins Fai from Cameroon and Moussa Djenepo from Mali distinguished themselves by getting into the refs book.
Zambian striker Fashion Sakala’s 60th minute goal handed struggling Oostende a 1-1 draw at home to Waasland-Beveren.
Austria
In the Austrian second tier, Vorwaerts Steyr drew 2-2 against FC Liefering in a day 17 clash. Nigerian striker Junior Chukwubuike Adamu opened the scoring for the visitors at the 28th minute. Burkinabe forward Ahmadou Sanou thought he must have handed all three points to the home side when he put them ahead 2-1 at the 87th minute but they failed to hold on to the lead.
Czech Republic
Congolese striker Elvis Mashike Sukisa got a brace for Zizkov in a 4-1 win against SK Prostejov.
Luxembourg
Ivorian striker Fabrice Yao got the second for US Mondorf les Bains in a 1-2 away win against AS Esch.
32 years Gambian striker Ibou Sawaneh provided the icing on the cake by grabbing the third goal for Union Titus Petange who saw off RM Hamm Benfica 3-0.
Romania
AFC Hermannstadt beat CSM Politehnica 2-0 at home. Their only low point in that win was the 88th minute dismissal of their Congo Brazzaville striker Juhvel Fred Tsoumou.
United Arab Emirates
Malian striker Cheick Diabate on loan from Osmanlispor in Turkey got a consolatory goal for Emirates Club at the 90th minute as they lost 1-2 at home to Al Wasl FC.
Denmark
Danish Super league side Vendyssel FC played a 2-2 draw at home to AGF. Ivorian striker Tiemoko Konate scored at the first minute of the game for the Vendyssel FC, his Sierra Leone teammate Alhaji Kamara got their second at the 76th minute.
Greece
Levadiakos drew 1-1 against Lamia thanks to a goal from Benin international Moise Adilehou.
Portugal
Ghanaian winger Barnes Osei had the game of his life for Pacos de Ferreira as they comfortably beat Vitoria Guimaraes 4-1. The left winger scored the third and fourth goals for the Pacos within two minutes, at the 54th and 56th minutes.
Sweden
In Group 2 of the Swedish cup, Nigerian striker Samuel Onyedikachukwu Nnamani got the goal for IFK Nookoeping in a 1-1 draw against AFC Eskolstuna.
Russia
Russian league giants CSKA Moscow were stunned 2-0 away to FC Arsenal Tula. Zambian Evans Kangwa got Arsenal Tula’s second at the 88th minute.
Croatia
Senegalese Cherif Ndiaye scored twice for HNK Spartak Subotica, at the 21st and 44th minute in their 3-1 win against Cukaricki.
Belarus
Cameroon striker Hervaine Moukam scored a 49th minute penalty for BATE Borisov against Dinamo Brest. His goal turned out to be a mere consolation as they lost the game by 1-3.
Montenegro
OFK Titograd lost at home 0-2 to Zeta. Ghanaian Alex Yamoah opened the scoring for the visitors.
Israel
There was a rare goal in Israel for Cameroon midfielder George Constant Mandjeck. The former Metz midfielder drew first blood in a comfortable 2-0 home win for Maccabi Haifa against Bnei Sakhnin.
USA
Nigerian Tesho Akindele equalized for Orlando City in a 2-2 draw against New York City FC in the American MLS.
Japan
Evergreen Nigerian striker Peter Utaka scored a brace for Ventforet Kofu who beat Renofa Yamaguchi 2-5 to earn a precious away win.
India
Congolese right back Arnold Nkofu Issoko scored a penalty at the 90th minute for Mumbai City, but FC Pune City has already done the essential with their two goals cushion which permitted them to get the win.
China
Moroccan International striker Ayoub El Kaabib was on target for Hebei CFFC against Shenzhen FC.
Muambo Edward.
