While most football leagues across Europe are drawing to their conclusions after a lengthy delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some are just kicking off. African footballers continued posting some impressive performances with notable mentions to Algeria’s Said Benrahma and Egypt’s Trezeguet in England, Uganda’s Farouk Miya in Turkey and Congo’s Dominique Malonga in Bulgaria.
We took a look at the contributions African footballers made in the latest round of fixtures.
ENGLAND
Egyptian winger Trezeguet scored twice as struggling Aston Villa kept alive their hopes of avoiding relegation from the Premier League with a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace. Meanwhile, Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez set up Raheem Sterling’s second goal in Manchester City’s 5-0 win against Brighton.
In the Championship, Algerian forward Said Benrahma continued his fine form for Brentford, scoring twice in a 3-1 win against Derby County and DR Congo striker Brit Assombalonga netted a tjird goal in four games as Middlesbrough lost 3-1 to Bristol City.
ITALY
Côte d’Ivoire midfielder Franck Kessie scored in a second straight game for AC Milan who drew 2-2 against Napoli while Moroccan Sofyan Amrabat set up Davide Faraoni’s acrobatic opening goal for Hellas Verona who drew 1-1 against Fiorentina.
SPAIN
Nigerian winger Samuel Chukwueze set up Villarreal’s goal in a 2-1 defeat at home to Real Sociedad which dented their slim hopes of edging fourth-placed Sevilla to a Champions League spot. Sevilla, meanwhile, defeated Mallorca 2-0 with Moroccan Youssef En Nesyri scoring his first goal since the restart.
TURKEY
Ugandan striker Farouk Miya netted a brace for Konyaspor who won a seven-goal thriller, 4-3, against league leaders Istanbul Basaksehir, who scored one of their goals through Senegal’s Demba Ba. Miya has now scored three goals in three games since a return from a lengthy injury.
Meanwhile, Malian forward Hadi Sacko netted for Denizlispor who stunned second-placed Trabzonspor 2-1, who scored through Ghana’s Caleb Ekuban.
Ghanaian midfielder Bernard Mensah was one of two players sent off for Kayserispor, who drew 1-1 against Gaziantep; while Senegal’s Mame Thiam missed an injury-time penalty for Kasimpasa who won 2-0 against Rizespor.
Veteran Côte d’Ivoire striker Arouna Kone scored his first goal in four matches as Sivasspor edged Fenerbahce 2-1.
Genclerbirgli defeated Goztepe 3-1 with Benin midfielder Stephane Sessegnon and Côte d’Ivoire striker Giovanni Sio both on target.
BULGARIA
Gambia’s Ali Sowe rounded off the scoring for CSKA Sofia who thrashed Beroe 5-0 in the Parva Liga while Congolese forward Dominique Malonga scored twice for Lokomotov Plovdiv who edged Levski Sofia 2-1, who scored through Ghana’s Nasiru Mohammed.
DENMARK
Tunisian Imed Louati was on target for the third consecutive game as Hobro lost their Superliga relegation playoff semifinal first leg 2-1 at home to Lyngby, while in the Europa League playoff quarterfinals, Sierre Leone’s Alhaji Kamara was on target for Randers FC who defeated Odense 2-1.
ACROSS EUROPE
In Finland, Cameroonian forward Jean Marie Dongou came off the bench to score an equalizer for Honka in a 1-1 draw against table-toppers KuPS and preserve their unbeaten start to the season in the Veikkausliiga.
In Latvia, BFC Daugavpils recovered from an own goal scored by Nigerian defender David Odowu to secure a 3-1 Ventspils in the Optibet Virsliga while his compatriot Emmanuel Arokodare scored the winner for Valmiera in a 2-1 victory against Jelgava. Meanwhile, DR Congo forward Kule Mbombo scored a hat-trick for Riga FC in their 5-1 away win against Tukums 2000.
In Lithuania, Ghana’s Francis Kyeremeh was one of four different scorers for second-placed Zalgiris who hammered A Lyga leaders Suduva 4-0.
Zimbabwean midfielder Alec Mudimu’s first goal of the season helped Moldova’s Divizia Nationala leaders Sheriff Tiraspol to a 6-0 win against last-placed Codru Lozova.
Nigerian Victor Boniface scored for Norway’s Eliteserien league leaders Bodo/Glimt who outclassed bottom-of-the-table Aalesund 6-1 to make it seven wins in a row and his compatriot Leke James was on the score sheet for second-placed Molde who beat Haugesund 3-0.
Portugal‘s football giants Sporting Lisbon strengthened their grip on third place in the Primeira Liga with a 1-0 win over Santa Clara courtesy of a goal by Cape Verde striker Jovane Cabral.
Nigerian midfielder Kadiri Jordan Attah scored the only goal of the game as Sweden’s Ostersunds edged Falkenbergs in the Allsvenskan.
Cameroon’s Jean-Pierre Nsame scored for 10-man Young Boys who lost 3-2 away to Basel in Switzerland‘s Super League.
