Glasgow Rangers of Scotland midfielder, Joe Aribo and Cercle Brugge of Belgium hitman, Ike Ugbo led Nigeria’s goal scorers on the weekend, while Anthony Nwakaeme provided an assist in Turkey and John Mikel Obi lost the battle away to William Troost-Ekong in England’s lower division, megasportsarena.com gathered.
In Scotland, Aribo scored a goal as Rangers stretched their unbeaten Premiership run to 25 games with a 5-0 win over Ross County on Saturday, during which he gave way for Cedric Itten in the 62nd minute of play, but Leon Aderemi Balogun stayed on The Gers’ bench for the entire duration of the game.
After Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Motherwell, Steven Gerrard’s side bounced back to winning ways with an emphatic result at Ibrox Stadium, where Ryan Kent opened scoring for the hosts in the sixth minute and Filip Helander made it 2-0 before Aribo grabbed the Gers’ third goal in the 37th minute.
Aribo, who has now scored five goals in 18 league appearances so far in this campaign, saw 62 minutes of action before he was replaced by Cedric Itten, while South Africa midfielder Bongani Zungu started on the bench and was introduced for Glen Kamara in the 61st minute.
In Belgium, Ike Ugbo helped Cercle Brugge return to winning ways by beating KV Kortrijk 2-1 at Guldensporen Stadion on Saturday evening.
Ugbo was in the right place to slot home Vitinho’s low cross in the 23rd minute and the lad on loan from Chelsea of England took his haul to 11 goals, after which Pavlović added a second for the visitors in the 28th minute and Evgeniy Makarenko pulled a goal back just before half time.
Ugbo, who got his 21st start of the season, made way for Kévin Denkey nine minutes from time, as he stayed ahead of Franklin Sasere, who has eight goals for Hamrun Spartans of Malta, in top scoring among Nigerian players in Europe aged under-23, followed by FC Prishtina’s Oto John with seven.
In Turkey, Anthony Nwakaeme provided the assist for Caleb Ekuban to seal Trabzonspor’s 2-1 win over Genclerbirligi.
Although Nwakaeme could not score in the encounter, the former Hapoel Be’er Sheva of Israel star helped his side extend their unbeaten run to five straight matches in the Turkish Super Lig, while Ekuban provided the pass for Djaniny Tavares to open scoring for the visitors at Eryaman Stadium.
Nine minutes after the interval, the Ghana international doubled the lead for the Black Sea Storm after benefitting from Nwakaeme’s assist; thereby helping the 26-year-old Ghanaian take his haul to six goals and two assists in 14 league appearances this season, while the Nigrian striker has five goals and four assists in 16 matches.
While Nwakaeme played the entire duration of Saturday’s game, Ekuban was replaced in the 80th minute and Djaniny Tavares made way for DR Congo’s Benik Afobe, who is on a season-long loan from Stoke City, seven minutes from time.
In England, Stoke City midfielder, John Mikel Obi and Watford defender, William Troost-Ekong were at opposing ends at the start of weekend action for Nigerian players, but it was the stopper that had the last laugh in their English Championship fixture.
While Mikel and Troost-Ekong provided Nigerian attention in the game, it was Senegal’s Ismaila Sarr that stole the headlines with a goal, as Watford secured a 2-1 victory over Stoke in Friday’s game at Vicarage Road.
Mikel got his 18th league start of the campaign and gave a good account of himself, but the former Super Eagles’ captain could not help Michael O’Neill’s team avoid defeat by the hosts, for which Troost-Ekong starred in his 15th league appearance this season.
The stopper on loan from Udinese of Italy helped The Hornets get their 13th haul of maximum three points of the season with Sarr scoring a crucial goal in the encounter, during which both sides made a number of efforts in their quest to outwit each other.
Troost-Ekong formed a four-man defence along with Francisco Sierralta, Kiko and Adam Masina, Sarr starred in the midfield, while Mikel played along with Sam Clucas and Joe Allen for Stoke in his 19th league appearance of the season.
After the restart, Troy Deeney broke the deadlock for Watford, as he converted from the penalty spot moments after the hour mark, and Sarr then doubled The Hornets’ lead in the 68th minute, following a defence-splitting assist from Deeney, with the three African stars on parade for the entirety of the game for their respective clubs in the encounter.
Mikel made two tackles, one interception, one clearance, 62 touches on the ball and a successful pass rate of 88 in the game, while Troost-Ekong made 12 clearances, blocked a shot, won eight aerial contests and had 62 touches on the ball.
With the result, Troost-Ekong and The Hornets climbed to third on the Championship table after accruing 46 points from 25 games, while Mikel’s team dropped to eighth place on the log, with 37 points from the same number of matches.
