Sports

African stars who set Europe on fire last weekend

Published

2 years ago

August 15, 2022

With the European football season fully back and hostilities back on track, some African soccer stars represented the continent well with mouth watering performances.

In England, Nigerian striker, Taiwo Awoniyi, entered Nottingham Forest’s history books by scoring The Reds first EPL goal in 23 years.

It was a dream start for Senegalese captain, Kalidou Koulibaly as he opened his Chelsea home debut with a goal while another Nigerian striker, Ademola Lookman was also on song as he scored his debut goal as Atalanta beat Samdoria 2-0.

Africanewswatch takes a look at some of the continent’s stars who stood out with their performances.

Taiwo Awoniyi (Nottingham Forest and Nigeria)

Taiwo Awoniyi’s home debut for Nottingham Forest was the stuff folktales are made of as he scored The Reds first Premier League goal in 23 years as the EPL sent back West Ham empty handed at the City Ground.

Taiwo Awoniyi and Reds teammates celebrate first EPL goal (Photo Credit: Nottingham Forest FC)

The former Union Berlin striker may have been fortunate with the goal but that did not diminish his all round contribution to the team as he tormented the West Ham backline before he was substituted late in the second half.

Joe Aribo (Southampton and Nigeria)

Nigerian midfielder, Joe Aribo, played a vital part as Southampton came back from two goals down to seal a 2-2 draw against Leeds United.

Aribo was on target as he got his goal with 20 minutes remaining on the clock to net his first EPL goal for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men.

The goal was more fitting as Aribo was introduced in the second half of the game.

Joe Aribo (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Ademola Lookman (Atalanta and Nigeria)

Nigerian forward, Ademola Lookman had a dream debut for Atalanta as he started his Series A campaign on with a debut goal for Atalanta as they defeated Sampdoria 2-0 at the Marassi.

Lookman got his maiden goal in the 95th minute to open his account for La Dea making sure of the three points for Gian Piero Gasperini men.

Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea and Senegal)

Senegal captain, Kalidou Koulibaly made his Chelsea home debut count as he struck a wonderful volleyed goal in a 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur at the Stamford Bridge.

Kalidou Koulibaly made a scoring debut for Chelsea (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Outside the goal, Koulibaly did well to hold off the twin threats of Harry Kane, Hyu Min Son, Richarlison and other Tottenham attackers but could do nothing about Kane’s equaliser.

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Sports

Chelsea offers Lukaku plus cash to Napoli for Osimhen

Published

2 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

English Premier League club, Chelsea, is said to be willing to offer Belgium striker, Romelu Lukaku, as well as fork out £77 million to Napoli in a bid to lure Nigerian forward, Victor Osimhen, to the club this summer.

Multiple reports in the Italian sporting media reveal that the Blues are willing to use forgotten man Lukaku and unnamed player to sweeten the deal to bring in Osimhen.

The Belgian striker who is on loan at Roma, is set to depart the Italian capital at the end of the season and make his return to Stamford Bridge where Chelsea are already planning ways to get rid of him on a permanent basis.

According to Gianluca Di Marzio of Sky Sport, the latest development in the Lukaku’s saga with the Blues is that Chelsea have gone as far as offering the 30-year-old attacker to Napoli.

“The Blues are aiming to sign Victor Osimhen this coming summer and are aiming to include Lukaku in a deal for the Nigerian international,” Marzio said.

“Newly appointed Napoli sporting director, Manna, is said to be very keen on Lukaku after having tried to bring him to Juventus and Napoli are currently considering the offer with Roma slipping away from the race for Big Rom.”

The 30-year-old Belgian rejoined the Blues in a disastrous £97.5m deal in 2021 and has spent the last two seasons out on loan, firstly at Inter Milan then this time around at Roma.

With two years still remaining on his deal, the Blues will look to get his salary off their wage bill for good this summer.

Osimhen on the other hand, helped Napoli to a historic Serie A title victory last season, scoring 26. This season, he has scored 14 goals in 22 appearances, having missed chunks of the campaign due to a hamstring injury and Afcon.

Lukaku, meanwhile, has netted 11 goals in 29 Serie A appearances for Roma, with 19 in all competitions.

Sports

Nigeria’s 4x400m mixed relay, 4×400 teams qualify for Olympics

Published

1 day ago

May 5, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Team Nigeria on Sunday morning booked two places at the upcoming Paris Olympics Games in the Mixed 4x400m relay and 4X400m men’s events with automatic qualification spots at the ongoing World Relays in the Bahamas.

The mixed 4x400m relay team which had the quartet of Samuel Ogazi, Ella Onojuvwevwo, Chidi Okezie, and Esther Elo Joseph, picked the slot after finishing second behind the USA in their heat with a time of 3:13.79, to ensured Nigeria’s presence on the Olympic stage.

Both Nigeria and the US were a distance ahead of other in the heat and it was obvious as at the third leg that the race was between the two countries.

According to reports on the race, Okezie ran an impressive third leg in 44.78 to handover his baton first, but a US Olympics gold-medalist, Kendall Ellis, was too much for Esther Elo Joseph in the anchor leg as she led the United States to the finish line first.