Nigerian wonderkid, Henry Onyekuru, was in superb form Saturday night as Eagles in Europe, EiE, continued to monitor Super Eagles players in their various European teams.
EiE recaps his excellent display for Galatasaray in the Super Lig and those of his normal team mates.
It was indeed a calm and composed performance from Onyekuru, who netted his first hattrick for his adopted club, Galatasaray.
On loan at the Turkish giants from English Premier League club, Everton, the 21-year-old scored his side’s second, fourth and fifth goal in a 6-0 demolition of Ankaragucu in the Super Lig.
Those goals took his tally in the season to nine in 16 appearances for Galatasaray.
Another Nigerian wonderkid whose stock has been rising this season, Samuel Chukwueze, found himself on the bench this time in the Spanish La Liga.
The attacking midfielder was a second half substitute as his La Liga side, Villarreal, were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Athletic Club.
Chukwueze played for 32 minutes and didn’t really make much impact in the game.
Elsewhere in Europe, it was a bad weekend for Serie A duo of William Troost-Ekong of Udinese and Ola Aina, who plies his trade at Torino.
Both defenders suffered defeats with their respective clubs, Aina’s Torino lost 3-2 at AS Roma while Troost-Ekong and Udinese were 2-1 losers at home to Parma.
The duo played the duration of their games.
France
Samuel Kalu, Bordeaux
Kalu seems to have finally found his feet in France following a series of excellent displays for his side in recent weeks.
On Sunday, the sweet footed winger led his side to a 1-0 victory with a man of the match performance against Dijon.
Kalu created two chances with one of them ending up as the assist that led to Andreas Cornelius’ winner on 76 minute.
It was mixed fortunes for Portugal and Israel based defensive midfield duo, Mikel Agu and John Ogu.
Agu’s Vitoria de Setubal lost 2-1 at Aves while Ogu and Hapoel Beer Sheva returned to winning ways with a comfortable 3-1 at Maccabi Petach.
Agu lasted 76 minutes with Ogu on from start to finish.
Spain
Kenneth Omeruo, Leganes
Omeruo has been enjoying a very good form in La Liga, but after promising to stop Lionel Messi ahead of their trip to Camp Nou, the center back and his team mates did everything but that.
Messi started from the bench, but came on in the second half to inspire Barca to a convincing 3-1 victory with Omeruo picking up a yellow card for the all the trouble.
Levante saw off Real Valladolid 2-0 but without Moses Simon, who was a spectator on the bench for the duration of the game.
Finally, in the English Premier League, Alex Iwobi came off the bench in Arsenal’s impressive 2-0 win over Chelsea at Emirates stadium
Iwobi played for just 22 minutes as a second half substitute for his 20th match of the season. He has two goals and four assists to his name.
For Leicester City duo of Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho, their visit to Wolves was one they won’t forget in a hurry.
Just when the Foxes, who started with Ndidi in his usual midfield role, thought they had done enough to share the spoils, their hosts struck a late winner for a memorable 4-3 victory.
Despite creating a chance, it was not the best of performances from the hitherto reliable Ndidi, who picked up a yellow card in that game.
For Iheanacho, his role on the bench continued but he was given just seven minutes on the pitch after he replaced Danny Simpson on 83 minutes.
At the Vicarage Road, another Super Eagles star found himself in the bench, this time, Isaac Success of Watford. He played just 34 minutes of their goalless draw with Burnley.
And for Leon Balogun, he watched from the bench for 90minutes as his Brighton & Hove Albion side put up a gallant fight before losing 2-1 at Old Trafford against Manchester United.
We can’t conclude this without talking about the English second division duo of Oghenekaro Etebo and Semi Ajayi.
Etebo led his struggling Stoke City side to a shock 2-1 win over leaders, Leeds United. The midfield powerhouse won the most tackles [4] in that match, creating one chance and with one interception.
He lasted the duration of the game.
Rotherham suffered a humiliating 4-2 defeat at home to Brentford complete with their Nigerian star player, Semi Ajayi.
Ajayi started and completed that game and had one to forget as well.
