Connect with us

Sports

The Good and The Bad: How African stars performed in Europe last weekend

Published

on

Over the weekend, African soccer stars took to the field for their respective European clubs in different leagues and competitions.

Some churned out impressive displays while others had outings they would rather forget.

A handful of the players made crucial contributions for their clubs while others found themselves on the losing side.

We bring a review of the African players who were too good for their European teams as well as the ones who were not so good.

Too Good

Mohamed Elneny: Arsenal

The Egyptian midfielder once again showed his importance for Arsenal with an assist in the Gunners 3-1 thumping of Manchester United at the Emirates.

After a man of the match display at Stamford Bridge a week earlier, Elneny was instrumental to Arsenal overall outing with a sterling performance in the middle of the park alongside Granit Xhaka.

He also provided the assist for the third goal scored by Xhaka in the 70th minute, a which has once again propelled Arsenal into the top four in the EPL with a Champions League qualification looking likely after their direct rivals, Tottenham Hotspur dropped points against Brentford.

Mohammed Kudus: Ajax

Ghanaian star Kudus was also good for Dutch Eredivisie runaway leaders Ajax as he provided the assist in the 88th minute in his club’s 1-0 defeat of NEC in the game played on Saturday.

His fellow African in the team, Sebastien Haller of Ivory Coast played the whole duration of the game but had little impact.

Karl Toko Ekambi, Alexander Djiku: Lyon

The Cameroonian players make tje good list as they conteibuted positively to Lyon’s 5-2 defeat of Montpellier in the French Ligue 1.

Ekambi scored one goal and provided an assist, netting as Lyon’s third goal in the 68th minute before providing the assist for captain Houssem Aouar’s goal in the second minute of added time.

Moses Simon: Nantes

Simon who was unarguably Nigeria’s best player as the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon, picked up from where he stopped as he helped his modest French club Nantes came back from 2-0 and 3-2 down to claim a 5-3 win over Bordeaux.

The Nigerian claimed an assist to draw his club level at 3-3, before claiming his side’s fourth goal as his teasing cross forced Bordeaux defender Ricardo Mangas to turn the ball into his own net.

Edoaurd Mendy and Hakim Ziyech: Chelsea

Senegalese shot stopper, Edoaurd Mendy and retired Moroccan Moroccan international Hakim Ziyech were instrumental to Chelsea not losing a third straight match at the Stamford Bridge.

Mendy was at his best as he stopped West Ham’s relentless onslaught as the Blue ran out 1-0 winners while Ziyech who replaced Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the 76th minute played a key part in the only goal scored by Christian Pulisic in added time.

Too Bad

Alex Iwobi: Everton

Everton Super Eagles midfielder Iwobi was too bad for Everton against Liverpool that fans of the club took to social media to question if he is really the nephew of former Eagles and Bolton Wanderers midfield magician, Austin ‘Jay-Jay” Okocha.

Iwobi was preferred on the left side of midfield by Frank Lampard but he contributed next to nothing as Everton slumped its 11 loss in their last 12 Premier League away games, including each of the last seven in a row, making it their longest run of consecutive away defeats since a run of eight between April and October 1994.

The Toffees ended the day in the relegation zone for the first time since 6th December 2019.

Mohamed Salisu: Southampton

The Ghanaian defender had a mixed bag of game as he scored an own goal as Southampton 2-2 draw against Brighton to share the points.

Salisu’s own goal gave Brighton a two-goal advantage before Southampton recovered and scored twice through James Ward-Prowse.

Emmanuel Dennis, Hassan Kamara: Watford

Nigeria’s Dennis and Ivory Coast’s Kamara combined for Watford’s 28th-minute goal in against Manchester City but it was not enough to save them from a 5-1 thumping at the Etihad Stadium.

Dennis has now been directly involved in 52% of Watford’s 31 Premier League goals this season, scoring 10 goals with six assists to his name.

Victor Osimhen: Napoli

Osimhen played the full 90 minutes as Napoli’s Serie A title hopes went up in smoke as they lost 3-2 to 14th-placed Empoli, after leading 2-0 at a point.

The lanky forward failed to find the back of the net yet again, though he had his six shots, the poorest return for the striker whose previous worst performance this season came at home games against Hellas Verona in November.

Sports

Paris Olympics: Nigeria’s D’Tigress in ‘group of death’, to battle Australia, France, Canada

Published

on

Nigeria’s women national basketball team, D’Tigress, have been drawn in what many term the group of death after they were paired alongside Australia, France and Canada for this year’s Olympic Games coming up in Paris, France, in July.

The coach Rena Wakama tutored team will take on Australia in their opening Group B game at the competition on Monday, July 29, according to the fixture schedule released on Thursday by the Federation of International Basketball Association (FIBA).

The African champions will face the host France on August 1 before facing Canada on August 4.

D’Tigress are heading for their third appearance at the Olympic Games after making its debut at the games in Athens 2004, before a second appearance at Tokyo 2020.

In their two previous outings at the games D’Tigress failed to go beyond the group stages after losing all group matches but there are hopes that the current team could spring surprises owing to the pool of talents in the team and the cohesion they have managed to build.

Continue Reading

Sports

Tragedy as coach killed, players injured in Sierra Leone club bus crash

Published

on

One of the coaches of Sierra Leonean club, Port Authority FC, Lamine Bangoura, a former international, has been confirmed killed while several players sustained different degrees of injuries after the team bus was involved in an accident on Tuesday night when going for a football game.

According to a statement from the club management, the players and officials of the top flight clubside are still reeling from the effect of the accident.

A local media which reported on the devastating accident on Wednesday said:

“The Sierra Leonean football is in mourning. On Tuesday evening, the Port Authority FC bus was involved in an accident. Several first team players are injured and in critical condition after this tragedy.

“The worst was the death of the Port Authority FC coach, Lamine Bangoura, who did not survive after receiving a serious blow during the accident.

“The team was en route to Kenema for a crucial match against Kahunla Rangers when tragedy struck, leaving several members in critical condition.

“The accident, which occurred at Konta Line, has claimed the life of the former Sierra Leone international and team coach, Lamine Bangura.

“Lamine Bangura was a highly revered figure in Sierra Leonean football and leaves behind a legacy that transcends the sport.

“Despite the best efforts of medical personnel at Masiaka Hospital, Bangura succumbed to his injuries, leaving behind a void in Sierra Leonean football.”

The Sierra Leone Premier League Board, in a statement on Wednesday, expressed deep regret and sent condolences to the team.

“While details of the incident are still emerging, it has been confirmed that there were injuries sustained by individuals involved in the accident.

“Our immediate priority is the well-being and recovery of those affected by this unfortunate event,” the statement said.

Continue Reading

EDITOR’S PICK

Strictly Personal12 hours ago

Off we go again with public shows, humbug and clowning, By Jenerali Uliwengu

The potential contestants in the approaching elections are already sizing themselves up and assessing their chances of fooling their people...

Musings From Abroad13 hours ago

UAE’s IRH to consider stake in Zambia’s Lubambe copper mine

A division of the International Holding Company of Abu Dhabi, International Resources Holding (IRH), has announced that it plans to...

Sports13 hours ago

Paris Olympics: Nigeria’s D’Tigress in ‘group of death’, to battle Australia, France, Canada

Nigeria’s women national basketball team, D’Tigress, have been drawn in what many term the group of death after they were...

Tech13 hours ago

Egyptian AI-powered ed-tech startup Sprints raises $3m to scale up platform

Egyptian AI-powered ed-tech startup, Sprints, has announced raising $3 million bridge round of funding to help it scale up its...

Culture13 hours ago

Actress Yvonne Nelson lambasts Ghanaian President Akufo-Addo, labels his regime ‘8 years of lies’

Ghanaian actress and filmmaker, Yvonne Nelson, has lambasted President Nana Akufo-Addo over a viral video from the Neo-natal Intensive Care...

Metro13 hours ago

Zambia, Botswana sign cooperation instruments to enhance trade

Zambia and close neighbours, Botswana, have signed 10 instruments of cooperation aimed at enhancing trade relations between the two countries....

VenturesNow15 hours ago

Kenya, Uganda settle oil import dispute

In an effort to patch things up between the two neighbours, Kenya will permit Uganda’s landlocked state oil company to...

VenturesNow22 hours ago

No plan to increase taxes, Nigeria’s revenue chief says

The head of Nigeria’s revenue agency, Zacch Adedeji, has reaffirmed that there is no plan for the introduction of new...

Metro23 hours ago

Tinubu vows justice for slain soldiers, bestows national honours on them during burial

President Bola Tinubu has once again reiterated that killers of 17 soldiers of the Nigerian Army in Delta State on...

VenturesNow2 days ago

Nigeria’s central bank raises interest rate to 24.75% amid soaring inflation

Governor Olayemi Cardoso of Nigeria’s central bank has announced that the bank has increased its monetary policy rate by 200...

Trending