Chile 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup gold medalist, Funsho Bamgboye was back into the international football spotlight on Saturday, as he netted two goal for his club in Hungary, while Molde FK of Norway striker, Leke James netted his 13th bull’s eye of the season, megasportsarena.com reports.
While James struck in a 5-0 victory over Sarpsborg 08 on the final day of the campaign, Simeon Tochukwu Nwankwo (Simy) continued his majesty burst of goals for Crotone of Italy and two Nigerian-born players also made their presence felt in England’s lower echelon leagues.
James, though, took the major spotlight, after the 28-year-old prolific yet overlooked attacker got his baker’s dozen from the penalty spot to open scoring after 25 minutes and the buzzing star, who last season scored 17 league goals, took delight in seeing his side end in second place.
Although Molde lost the Norwegian league title to Bodo/Glimt, they finish as runners-up and qualify for next year’s UEFA Europa League, while still in contention for this season’s race, as they face TSG Hoffenheim of Germany in the round of 32 come February.
In Hungary, Bamgboye scored for the second consecutive game with MOL Feherver, with a brace of goals to show in his side 3-0 victory over Kisvarda and end the year on a winning note, on an evening the 21-year-old attacker got his 11th start of the campaign.
The hosts were able to solidify their grip on second spot on the log, and it took Bamgboye just eight minutes to put his side ahead, after which Ivan Petriak doubled the lead seconds into the second half.
Bamgboye then completed his brace two minutes from time when he curled home a delightful ball from the inside of the box to earn his side all three points, which strengthen their hold on second place with 29 points, six points behind Ferencvaros, who have played two games less.
In Italy, Simy Nwankwo scored his fourth goal this season in the Italian Serie A, but his effort was not enough to inspire the visitors’ comeback at Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris, as Crotone suffered a 3-1 defeat against Sampdoria.
Simy pulled a goal back for La Pythagoreans on the stroke of half-time after efforts from Mikkel Damsgaard and Jakub Jankto gave Sampdoria a 2-0 lead in the first 35 minutes, but Fabio Quagliarella got off the bench to seal victory for the hosts in the 65th minute, which condemned Crotone to their ninth loss of the season.
Although Simy was in action for the entire duration and put in a lot of spirited effort, he could not save the day for his side, who have won just a single match in their first season back in the Italian top-flight.
The 28-year-old Super Eagles’ squad member at Russia 2018 World Cup has played in each of Crotone’s matches of the current campaign, during which he already has three goals that fall four behind his best scoring sheet in the Serie A, when he netted seven in the 2017/18 season.
In England, Gillingham United striker, John Akinde ended a nine-game goal drought in all competitions by notching a brace that helped his side climb to 12th in England’s League One, following their 4-1 hammering of Rochdale AFC at Crown Oil Arena in Greater Manchester on Saturday afternoon.
The 31-year-old Akinde was one of the most impressive players on the pitch at the end of the first half and, midway through it, he got the ball on his chest, turned and beat the goalkeeper to double Gillingham’s advantage.
In England’s youth leagues, Jubril Okedina netted for the second game running and helped Tottenham Hotspur win a seven-goal thriller against Liverpool in a Premier League 2 match on Saturday evening, as he rose highest before powering the ball into the net following a cross from Harvey White but it was all square at the break after Morton cancelled out Lyons-Foster’s goals.
The Tottenham Hotspur U23 star, who also scored in a 3-2 loss to Chelsea on Monday, opened scoring three minutes after the restart, then headed in his second of the game from a corner to make it 3-2, with Harvey White once again providing the assist.
