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Too Good, Too Bad: How African stars performed in Europe last weekend

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The last weekend was a mixed bag for African soccer stars in their various European clubs with some of them churning out superlative performances while some could not live up to expectations.

Across different leagues in England, the Bundesliga, La Liga, the Belgian Jupiler League, the Serie A and even the EFL Championship, African players strutted their stuff and Africannewswatch brings you a review of the continent’s best and worse performers of the last weekend.

Too Good

Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal/Egypt)

Arsenal and Egyptian midfield star, Mohamed Elneny tops the Too Good list after he helped the Gunners maintain her unbeaten run in the English Premier League and remain top of the table with a 2-1 defeat of Fulham on Saturday.

The 30-year-old Egypt international made the matchday squad as a replacement for Ghanaian star Thomas Partey who picked up a thigh injury during the warm up.

Mohamed Elneny points the way forward as Arsenal romped to a 2-1 victory over Fulham (Photo Credit: Arsenal FC)

Mohamed Elneny points the way forward as Arsenal romped to a 2-1 victory over Fulham (Photo Credit: Arsenal FC)

Elneny lived up to what was expected of him as he did not disappoint by putting up a solid display to help the team come from behind to beat their opponents following an Aleksandar Mitrovic goal.

Elneny put up a man of the match display as goals from captain Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Meghalaes to put the Cottagers to the sword.

The mercurial midfielder successfully completed 50 passes, 98 percent of them accurate, including 54 touches and with Partey still sidelined, could be in line for another start when Arsenal welcome Aston Villa on Wednesday at the Emirates Stadium.

Brian Brobbey (Ajax/Ghana)

Brian Brobbey gave his chances of breaking into the Ghanaian team a huge lift when he led Ajax to a comfortable 2-0 victory against Utrecht at the Stadion Galgenwaard on Sunday in their Eredivisie fixture.

After strike partner Steven Berghuis had put the perennial Dutch champions ahead, the 20-year-old Brobbey got the second goal for the home side shortly after.

The Ghanaian prospect who has scored two goals from four appearances with two assists, after opening his goal account in Ajax’s of 3-2 victory against Fortuna Sittard on August 6.

Albert Adomah (Queens Park Rangers/Ghana)

Albert Adomah was the star for Qyeens Park Rangers as he scored in a decisive goal as QPR defeated Watford in their EFL Championship game played at the Vicarage Road on Saturday.

The 34-year-old Black Star international who previously played for Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, has featured in every game for QPR in this campaign, snatched a late winner as QPR handed Watford its first defeat of the season to stun the vociferous home crowd

Joseph Paintsil (Genk/Ghana)

Another Ghanaian international who made the Too Good list was ageless John Paintsil who scored one goal and provided an assist as Genk trounced RFC Seraing 4-0 in a Belgian Jupiler League fixture on Saturday.

John Psintsil was at his best last weekend (Photo Credit:Getty Images)

John Psintsil was at his best last weekend (Photo Credit:Getty Images)

Mike Tresor Ndayishimiye had opened the scores for Genk after receiving a split pass from Paintsil before the Black Star grabbed the second of the night in the fixture played at the Stade du Pairay.

So far, Paintsil has scored three goals from six appearances with two assists. He scored his first two goals against AS Eupen on August 6 when he grabbed a brace in a 4-2 victory.

Too Bad

Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich/Senegal)

After a blistering start for his new club, the Senegalese forward had a game to forget as Bayern Munich managed to hold Borussia Monchengladbach to a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.

Though Mane had a goal disallowed after he hit the back of the net in the 35th minute after connecting a cross from Thomas Muller, but the goal was ruled out for offside after referee Daniel Schlager reviewed the build-up using VAR.

The former Liverpool star was subbed off for Serge Gnabry in the 68th minute after he could not replicate the form that has seen him score three goals for his Bundesliga club.

Edouard Mendy (Chelsea/Senegal)

The Senegalese safe hands also makes the Too Bad list yet again as he failed to keep a clean sheet as Chelsea managed to defeat Leicester City 2-1 at the Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

After his calamitous howler against Leeds United the previous week, Mendy failed to be as stellar as he has always been in the past as Harvey Barnes breached his net in the 66th minute after Raheem Sterling had grabbed a brace.

Mendy is no longer at his best for Chelsea *Photo Credit: Chelsea FC)

Since the new season kicked off, the Afcon winner has managed only one clean sheet which came in the 1-0 victory against Everton at Goodison Park on the first day of the season.

Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace/Ghana)

Jordan Ayew endured a frustrating afternoon as Manchester City came from two goals down to thrash Crystal Palace 4-2 courtesy of an Erling Haaland’s hat trick on Saturday at Etihad Stadium.

Patrick Vieira ‘s men had raced into a 2-0 lead by half-time after an own goal from John Stones and a header from Joachim Andersen the Citizens roared back and turned the match on its head in the second half through Bernardo Silva and Haaland to complete the comeback.

Jordan Ayew had a weekend to forget at the Etihad  (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Jordan Ayew had a weekend to forget at the Etihad (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Ayew was saved from his myseries in the 74th minute when he was replaced by Jean-Philippe Mateta.

Sports

Nigerian couple makes history with Paralympic qualifications

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Nigerian para-table tennis players, Kayode Alabi and Ifechukwude Ikpeoyi, have made history by becoming the first African couple to qualify for the Paralympic Games in Paris in 2024, after securing their maiden ticket at the ITTF African Para Championships in Giza, Egypt.

Alabi came out tops in the men’s Class Six category to qualify for his first Paralympic Games, while his wife also picked her maiden ticket in the women’s Class Five.

At the qualifying tournament, Nigerian players dominated in the men’s singles category and claimed the bulk of the tickets, with four of the six entrees making their Paralympic Games debut.

Nigeria also added extra tickets in women’s Classes Nine and Five in successive sessions, with Kehinde Lawal and Ikpeoyi topping their events as champions.

Other athletes who picked tickets for the Paralympic Games include Olufemi Alabi and Victor Farinloye, who both competed in the men’s Classes 10 and Eight at the last games in Tokyo.

Others are Isau Ogunkunle, Bolawa Akingbemisilu, Kayode Alabi and Abiola Adesope who all won their respective classes and will be on the plane to Paris.

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Sorry Namibia pounded 96-0 by France in Rugby World Cup

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Namibia’s participation at the ongoing Rugby World Cup in France took a big dent when they were trounced 96-0 by the host who reached the quarter-finals of the competition with their biggest-ever win.

The one-sided Pool A encounter on Thursday evening at the Marseille’s Stade Velodrome saw France running up the huge score against the Africans, showing the gulf in class between the two teams.

In the match, Damian Penaud scored a hat-trick, while Jonathan Danty, Charles Ollivon and Louis Bielle-Biarry all scored twice to make mince meat of their opponents.

Thibaud Flament, Dupont and substitutes Baptiste Couillard and Melvyn Jaminet also scored, while Thomas Ramos kicked 12 conversions.

The host nation made 12 changes from their 27-12 victory over Uruguay, bringing back their big names and from the first whistle, dominated and outclassed a sorry Namibian side.

But it was not all good news for France as skipper Antoine Dupont was forced off the field with a head injury and will be sweating on his fitness ahead of the quarter-finals match.

Dupont was struck by Namibia captain Johan Deysel in the side of his head a few minutes into the second half and immediately left the field, being taken to hospital for a suspected fractured cheek.

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