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Leicester City of England attacker, Kelechi Iheanacho and Watford’s Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis both stood out among a catalogue of Nigerian players that saw action last weekend in the English Premier League.
Megasportsarena.com reports that Iheanacho and Dennis got the best shade of individual fortunes among the Nigerian legion in the EPL, as they were the only ones with starting spots in the line-up of games.
Iheanacho stood out for Leicester, though he struggled for form, as he failed to score in his side’s loss to Arsenal on Sunday, but Wilfred Onyinyen Ndidi played as a substitute and Ademola Lookman did not get any minute of action in the game.
Iheanacho was the centre of all attention, as he played in place of The Foxes’ top scorer, Jamie Vardy, but the former Manchester City ace failed to make his mark and fired blanks before getting replaced late on.
However, Iheanacho’s struggles highlighted a disappointing evening for Leicester, as their defeat saw Arsenal romp to their fifth straight win and keep their top four bid well on track in the English Premier League.
The Gunners’ 2-0 victory at Emirates Stadium came on an evening Iheanacho started for Leicester but was ineffectual in front of goal, though quite lucky to escape getting sent off for two ugly fouls.
He first got a yellow card for an elbow on Gabriel Magalhães and repeated same on Ben White in the second half, long after Arsenal broke the deadlock 11 minutes off Thomas Partey’s header.
The Gunners’ lead was doubled by their captain, Alexandre Lacazette from the penalty spot in the 59th minute, after VAR spotted a handball by Soyuncu, and the goal, which ended the scorer’s drought, was the 200th of his career.
The game came a day after Nigerian players got varying shades of disappointing outings in the EPL, as Everton’s Alex Iwobi watched from the bench for the second straight game and 1-0 defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Watford’s William Troost-Ekong and Samuel Kalu were benched, while Peter Oghenekaro Etebo is yet to fully recover and was not in the matchday squad, but Dennis was in action for 87 minutes in their match against Southampton.
The Saints were without Nathan Tella, who is not yet ready to return to action following a groin injury he suffered two months ago and was not in the squad that suffered a 2-1 loss to The Hornets.
Juan Hernandez scored twice in the opening half to give the Hornets a lead before Mohamed Elyounoussi pulled a goal back for the Saints shortly before the break.
West Ham United’s duo of Armstrong Okoflex and Tim Iroegbunam were non-playing substitutes in The Hammers 2-1 win over Carney Chukwuemeka’s Aston Villa 2-1 at London Stadium.
The Hammers secured a vital win thanks to second half strikes from Andriy Yarmolenko and Pablo Fornals, while Jacob Ramsey scored a consolation in the final minute.
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