A spree of goals was enacted by several Nigerian players across Europe on Saturday, with Taiwo Awoniyi, Ahmed Musa, Emmanuel Dennis Bonaventure, Victor Osimhen and Paul Ebere Onuachu standing out among the lot, megasportsarena.com reports.
While Bonaventure made the best of his debut with Watford of England, Musa also made hay in his first match for his Turkish Super Lig outfit, while Awoniyi stepped up from where he ended last season with 1FC.Union Berlin of Germany.
In England, Bonaventure was named Watford’s man of the match after their 3-2 win against Aston Villa, as the former Kharkiv of Ukraine, Club Brugge of Belgium and FC Cologne of Germany attacker marked his Premier League debut with a goal and an assist.
In the voting by The Hornets’ fans, which was published on the club’s verified Twitter handle, Bonaventure beat off competition from compatriots, William Troost-Ekong and Oghenekaro Etebo, who also both excelled in the match, as well as Ismaila Sarr.
Also in England, Dapo Mebude opened his account for AFC Wimbledon on his League One debut as they played out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Bolton Wanderers at Plough Lane, where the lad on loan from Watford made.
The Glasgow Rangers of Scotland academy product curled home superbly to equalise for The Dons in the 75th minute, after former West Ham United striker, Oladapo Afolayan slotted home from close range two minutes into the second half.
Fulham academy product Dennis Adeniran’s close range effort in the 75th minute helped Sheffield Wednesday claim a 2-0 win over Doncaster Rovers at Hillsborough, against who his first goal for The Owls made a world of difference.
In the German Bundesliga, former Liverpool uncapped striker, Taiwo Awoniyi was on target as Union Berlin were held to a 1-1 draw by Bayer Leverkusen, as the 2013 FIFA U17 World Cup winner blasted the ball past Lukas Hradecky in the seventh minute to open the scoring.
In Italy, Victor Osimhen was on target as Napoli thrashed Pescara 4-0 in their last pre-season friendly on Saturday night, as he put his Naples-based side ahead in the ninth minute, following an assist by Lorenzo Insigne.
Osimhen has now scored eight goals in five pre-season outings for The Partenopei, while Insigne, Adam Ounas and Zedadka scored the other goals for Luciano Spalleti’s side, who prepare to open their Italian Serie A campaign against newcomers Venezia next week Sunday.
In Netherlands, Nonso Madueke made it five goals in six matches across all competitions as PSV Eindhoven beat Heracles Almelo 2-0 in the Dutch Eredivisie, as the N9gerian-born England under-21 international doubled his side’s advantage in the 64th minute.
In Turkey, Ahmed Musa had a dream debut for Fatih Karagumruk, as he scored a crucial third goal after 89 minutes in a 3-2 win over Gaziantep FK at Atatürk Olimpiyat Stadı, while Bologna of Italy loanee, Orji Okwonkwo’s first half brace helped lower division side, Cittadella to 2-1 win over Monza in Coppa Italia.
In Belgium, Onuachu notched his third in four games as Racing Genk hammered Oud-Heverlee Leuven 4-0 in the Belgian First Division A, as the lanky striker, who put in a full shift during the game, doubled the advantage just before the hour mark.
In Austria, Kano-born Austria under-21 attacker, Chukwubuike Adamu celebrated his first goal in Red Bull Salzburg colours, as they defeated FC Admira Wacker Modling 1-0 in an Austrian Bundesliga clash at the BSFZ Arena.
The 20-year-old, who was very prolific for Salzburg’s underage teams prior to his first-team promotion, netted the game-winning goal eight minutes from time after coming off the bench, while Nigeria youth international, Ibrahim Aliyu bagged a brace in NK Lokomotiva’s 4-0 rout of NK Istra 1961 in the Croatian First League.
The Flying Eagles striker scored in the 31st minute to give his side a two-goal lead and put the game out of the reach of the visitors by netting with almost the last kick of the half, while Aliyu Yakubu took his haul to two goals in three games after finding the net for AFC Eskilstuna in a Norrby 4-1 win away to Tunavallen.
