Nigerian players had varying highlights to their names this weekend in the English Premier League, as Odion Jude Ighalo was not dressed by Manchester United in their controversial win away to Brighton & Hove Albion, while Alex Iwobi started on the bench for Everton away to Crystal Palace, who gave Eberechi Eze a starting shirt for their clash at Selhurst Park, megasportsarena.com gathered.
However, the first Nigerian goal of the weekend came from an unexpected source in Germany, as Felix Uduokhai surged forward from his position in defence to net for Augsburg in their shock victory against Borussia Dortmund, after which Aide Brown Ideye also hit target in Turkey, while Tammy Abraham struck late in the EPL and John Mikel Obi provided an assist in the lower cadre.
In England, Ighalo was not dressed and The Red Devils struggled but got a dramatic 3-2 win, with a 100th minute penalty converted by Bruno Fernandes after Brighton’s Neal Maupay went from hero to villain with a stoppage-time handball at Amex Stadium.
With Ighalo watching from the stands, Fernandes coolly converted from 12 yards with the last kick of the game after referee Chris Kavanagh penalised Neal Maupay for handball after a long check on the monitor, but he initially seemed to have blown the full-time whistle.
United, who struggled to impress and were second best for much of the afternoon, earlier on had two goals disallowed, while The Seagulls remarkably struck the woodwork five times and had another spot-kick award overturned following a VAR review.
Same afternoon in the EPL, Iwobi entered the game away to Palace in place of James Rodriguez in the 86th minute, and Eberechi Eze stepped off for Michy Batshuayi in the 75th, as The Eagles lost 2-1 at home versus The Toffees; Semi Ajayi was on for the entire game with West Bromwich Albion, as they settled for a tough 3-3 draw with visiting Chelsea, who had Tammy Abraham on for the duration and he got their equaliser in the 93rd minute.
While Abraham celebrated his late goal that sealed Chelsea’s romp back from three goals down, Fikayo Tomori and Ross Barkley were benched all evening long by The Blues, but Nigerian-born winger, Hal Robson-Kanu got off the hosts’ bench in the 66th in place of Callum Robinson.
In the English Championship, Tom Dele-Bashiru was a 63rd minute substitute for Watford, in place of Nathaniel Chalobah, as The Hornets won 1-0 at home against Luton Town, while John Mikel Obi was on for the duration with Stoke City and got an assist in The Potters’ 1-0 win over Preston North End.
Mikel lasted the lasted the whole game for his third match running in the English Championship, in a game that saw his 64 touches as the fourth-highest among Stoke’s players while his passing accuracy of 90% from 45 passes was the highest among the Potters starters.
Mikel also had one successful dribble, completed three long balls out of four and won three of six ground duels; while Ovie Ejaria was also in 90 minutes of action for Reading and helped The Royals win 2-1 away to Cardiff City, whose lone goal was scored by Lee Tomlin, while Michael Morrison and Lucas Joao hit target for the visitors.
In England’s youth sector, Tai Sodje recorded a hat-trick for Manchester City’s kids in a 3-1 win over Liverpool in the U18 English Premier League, with the youngster netting in his third straight match, following his previous goals against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton.
The nephew of Efe and Sam Sodje opened scoring for the visitors in the 34th minute then got his second of the afternoon ten minutes after the restart following a defensive error by the hosts and wrapped up his treble on 68 minutes courtesy of remarkable counter-attack by his team.
In Turkey, Aide Brown Ideye scored his first goal since joining Goztepe earlier this summer and the former Super Eagles’ striker helped his side eke out a 2-2 draw against visiting Gaziantep in the Turkish Super Lig on Saturday.
The 31-year old Ideye, who arrived at Gursel Aksel Stadium on a free transfer after reaching the end of his contract with Aris Thessaloniki last season, hit target with his only shot on target in a game in which he got 23 touches, 11 accurate passes and 79% success in his distributions.
In Germany, Kingsley Ehizibue got full duration action for FC Cologne, who sent Tolu Arokodare on as a 76th minute substitute in place of Sebastian Andersson, but their side lost 1-0 away to Arminia Bielefeld; while Felix Uduokhai got a 40th minute goal for Augsburg in their 2-0 victory against visiting Borussia Dortmund.
Uduokhai played all 90 minutes of the game at WWK Arena, where Manuel Akanji also got full duration action with the visitors, while Taiwo Awoniyi was in the starting line-up for FC1. Union Berlin and was replaced in the 57th minute, but Anthony Ujah was not dressed, in their 1-1 draw away to Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Uduokhai, who got his second start of the season, paired Jeffrey Gouweleeuw in the heart of The Fuggerstadter’s defence and capped it by enacting his second strike for Augsburg since he joined the club; while Karim Onisiwo also played all 90 minutes for SV Mainz 05 but could not save his side from losing 4-1 at home against VfB Stuttgart.
