• Osimhen bags brace again as Olatunji scores for Sparta
Nigerian stars are heading into the international break in great shape, with Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen headlining his return to the Super Eagles fold with a brace on Sunday. ABIODUN ADEWALE recaps his and other Nigerian stars’ performances
SUNDAY
TURKEY
VICTOR OSIMHEN (GALATASARAY)
Another day, another brace for Osimhen in the colours of Galatasaray as the Nigerian striker continues to enjoy his loan spell at the Turkish club.
Fresh from scoring twice in the Europa League, the 25-year-old hit another brace in the club’s 3-2 win over Samsunspor in their Turkish Super Lig encounter at the RAMS Park on Sunday.
Osimhen scored the first inside the opening three minutes with a powerful header, planting Lucas Torreira’s cross into the top corner to the fans’ delight.
Samsunspor did equalise early in the second half, but Osimhen restored Galatasaray’s lead five minutes later, with the former Lille striker pouncing on the goalkeeper’s failure to claim a cross to head the loose ball into the net at the far post.
The 25-year-old has now scored six goals in six league matches and eight goals in nine matches in all competitions since the start of his loan spell.
Both sides traded a goal each after Osimhen’s brace, which was ultimately enough to secure all three points for unbeaten Galatasaray, extending their lead at the summit to six points.
BRIGHT OSAYI-SAMUEL (FENERBAHCE)
Defender, Osayi- Samuel is steadily finding his feet at the back again after recovering from an injury, as he kept his place in the starting lineup for Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce in their Super Lig clash against Sivasspor on Sunday.
CZECH REPUBLIC
VICTOR OLATUNJI (SPARTA PRAGUE)
Olatunji was on target for Sparta Prague on Sunday, scoring the opener in their 2-2 draw at Mlada Boleslav. It took him just nine minutes to open the scoring after being set up by Krystof Danek.
The hosts equalised before halftime and again in stoppage time after Sparta restored their lead in the second half.
Olatunji has now scored in back-to-back games for Sparta after netting in their Champions League last midweek.
ENGLAND
WILFRED NDIDI (LEICESTER CITY)
Ndidi almost scored his first EPL goal of the season on Sunday in Leicester’s 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford. After Bruno Fernandes’ opening goal, Leicester tried to respond through Ndidi, who should have done better when clean through as his nonchalant attempt was comfortably stopped by André Onana. He has four assists this season.
AINA, AWONIYI (NOTTINGHAM FOREST)
After enjoying three consecutive wins, Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi were on the losing side with Nottingham Forest, as Newcastle United fought back to beat them 3-1 at home. Aina featured for 90 minutes, while Awoniyi played just three minutes.
JOSH MAJA (WEST BROM)
In the Championship, Maja netted his ninth goal of the season for West Brom as they beat Hull City 2-1 away from home to continue the push for promotion to the top flight.
TONI PAYNE (EVERTON)
Super Falcons midfielder Payne is still searching for her first goal in the colours of Everton in the English Women’s topflight. She played her first 90 minutes on Sunday, 1-1 away at Crystal Palace.
ITALY
ADEMOLA LOOKMAN (ATALANTA)
Atalanta star Lookman had a goal disallowed as the Europa League winners came from behind to beat Udinese in a Serie A encounter on Sunday to extend their winning streak to five games.
Lookman was denied by the VAR for offside after he latched on to a loose ball in the box past his countryman Okoye.
Udinese later opened the scoring, but goals from Mario Pasalic restored parity for the host, and an own goal from Isaak Toure handed Atalanta the victory.
MADUKA OKOYE (UDINESE)
Meanwhile, Super Eagles goalkeeper Okoye could not prevent the Bergamo-based player from finding the net in a 2-1 loss, which extended Udinese’s loss to three games.
FISAYO DELE-BASHIRU (LAZIO)
Super Eagles midfielder Dele-Bashiru again started from the bench as Lazio visited Monza in the Serie A. The Nigerian hardly features for the club in the Italian topflight, making just four appearances—two as a substitute—before Sunday. However, he has played in three UEFA Europa League games, scoring a goal and providing two assists.
FRANCE
VICTOR ORAKPO (NICE)
Eighteen-year-old Nigerian striker Orakpo made his fourth Ligue 1 appearance for OGC Nice as they played out a 2-2 draw against Nice.
He joined the club in January and made his senior debut as a substitute in a 2-1 Ligue 1 loss to Auxerre on August 18. A few days later, he extended his contract with Nice until 2028.
AKOR ADAMS (MONTPELLIER)
Former Flying Eagles striker Adams was taken off before halftime in Montpellier’s Ligue 1 with Brest on Sunday. It remains to be seen if the change was tactical or precautionary. The striker has played 11 games this season with just three goals and one assist.
GERMANY
FRANK ONYEKA (AUGSBURG)
Eagles midfielder Onyeka continued to hold his place in the Augsburg midfield and was involved all through in their goalless draw at home against Hoffenheim.
KEVIN AKPOGUMA (HOFFENHEIM)
Akpoguma also came up against Onyeka in the Bundesliga, helping his team keep a clean sheet on their visit, bagging a yellow card for unsportsmanlike conduct in the closing stages of the game.
SCOTLAND
CYRIL DESSERS (RANGERS)
Despite his constant snub for a place in the Super Eagles, Dessers continued his goalscoring form for Rangers in the Scottish league. He netted the only goal for the Gers in their 1-0 win over hearts.
BELGIUM
JORDAN TORUNARIGHA (GENT)
Torunarigha had a field day at work for Gent, helping them keep a clean sheet in a comprehensive 5-0 thrashing of St. Leige. He has been consistent for the Belgian club, featuring nine times this season and providing one assist.
USA
Asisat Oshoala (Bay FC)
Super Falcons striker Oshoala scored Bay FC’s first ever goal in the NWSL playoffs against Washington Spirits on Sunday, but her 83rd minute strike was cancelled out by the hosts just three minutes later. As the quarter-final game went into extra-time, Oshoala and her teammates found themselves down by another goal in the 96th minute, marking a potential end to their 2024 campaign.
SATURDAY
ENGLAND
IWOBI, BASSEY (FULHAM)
Super Eagles midfielder Alex Iwobi was voted Man of The Match in Fulham’s 2-0 win at Crystal Palace. He provided an excellent assist for the second goal as the Cottagers picked a vital win on the road, which moved them up to seventh in the table.
Calvin Bassey was rock-solid in defence for Fulham as the visitors kept a clean sheet at Selhurst Park, London.
ARIBO, ONUACHU (SOUTHAMPTON)
Joe Aribo and Paul Onuachu were both in action for Southampton in their 2-0 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers. It was Onuachu’s fifth game of the season, and he featured for 18 minutes, while Aribo, who played 73 minutes, has now featured in 10 league games.
FRANCE
MOSE SIMON (NANTES)
Moses Simon scored a goal and provided an assist, but it wasn’t enough to rescue his club Nantes from a 3-2 defeat at Lens. The 29-year-old clinically converted a 36th-minute penalty to cancel out an early Lens opener and assisted Nantes second midway through the second half.
HAMZAT OJEDIRAN (LENS)
Lens fought out a thrilling 3-2 win at home to Nantes as 20-year-old Nigerian midfielder Ojediran came off the bench to equalise for Lens—his first Ligue 1 goal—in the 86th minute before Adrien Thomasson popped up with a huge stoppage-time winner for Lens.
CHIAMAKA NNADOZIE (PARIS FC)
It was a battle between two Super Falcons stars as Chiamaka Nnadozie’s Paris FC traded tackles with Ifeoma Onumonu’s Montpellier in the French Première Ligue.
Onumonu ensured there was no clean sheet for Nnadozie as the 30-year-old forward bagged a brace against Nigeria teammate.
Nnadozie, however, made four other brave saves, with Onumonu’s goals being the only two balls she couldn’t save.
Despite Onumonu’s heroics, the goalkeeper had the last laugh as Julie Dufour’s double propelled Paris FC to a thrilling 4-2 victory.
IFEOMA ONUMONU (MONTPELLIER)
Onumonu netted twice against her compatriot Chiamaka Nnadozie to take her tally to three goals in her last two games, but she ended up on the losing side as Paris FC beat Montpellier 4-2.
SPAIN
KELECHI IHEANACHO (SEVILLA)
Iheanacho continued his search for his first LaLiga goal as Sevilla stumbled to a narrow 1-0 loss at Leganes.
RAHEEDAT AJIBADE (ATLETICO MADRID)
The day also ended on a sour note for Rasheedat Ajibade in the Primera División Femenina as her club, Atlético Madrid, were outclassed 3-0 by champions Barcelona.
TURKEY
OLAWOYIN, AKINTOLA (CAYKUR RIZESPOR)
Inside the gorgeous Çaykur Didi Stadyumu in Rize, Rizespor secured a comeback 3-1 victory against Trabzonspor thanks to the key contributions from Ibrahim Olawoyin and David Akintola.
Amir Hadžiahmetović equalised for Rizespor deep in first-half stoppage time after Edin Višća had given the visitors an early lead. However, the game turned into a Nigerian show in the second half, with Olawoyin handing the hosts the lead in the 71st minute before Akintola scored to secure the points ten minutes later.
ITALY
SAMUEL CHUKWUEZE (AC MILAN)
Chukwueze played his 11th league game of the season for AC Milan on Saturday, featuring for the first 65 minutes in their 3-3 draw at Cagliari. He has only one goal in 11 appearances in the Serie A this season.
GERMANY
BONIFACE, TELLA (BAYER LEVERKUSEN)
Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella came off the bench for Bayer Leverkusen, but they were not able to exert any influence as the German champions played out a 1-1 draw at Bochum.