Nigerian players abroad, led by Paul Onuachu, returned to action for their respective clubs after the international break, while midfielder Alex Iwobi broke the appearance record in the Premier League for a Nigerian, www.aclsports.com reports.
Paul Onuachu, who has made a strong start to the season with Trabzonspor, continued his fine form with another goal over the weekend. The lanky forward scored the second goal for Karadeniz Fırtınası, as they edged Ibrahim Olawoyin’s Rizespor 2-1 on Saturday. The Super Eagles midfielder was absent due to injury.
After his heroics against Benin Republic to book Nigeria’s place at the World Cup playoffs, striker Victor Osimhen featured for only 17 minutes in Galatasaray’s 2-1 win at Istanbul Basaksehir on Saturday. Wilfred Ndidi, who was recently named vice-captain, played all 90 minutes in Besiktas’ shock 2-1 home loss to Genclerbirligi.
In the Premier League, Alex Iwobi made his 299th Premier League appearance in Fulham’s defeat to Arsenal. The midfielder beat Shola Ameobi in the ranking to become the Nigerian with the most appearances in the English top flight. It is the former Arsenal star’s 11th PL season. Meanwhile, defender Calvin Bassey also featured for Fulham in the encounter. Earlier on Saturday, Taiwo Awoniyi made his first start of the season in Nottingham Forest’s 3-0 loss to Chelsea.
On the final day of the MLS regular season, Yusuf Alhassan grabbed a goal in New England Revolution’s 2-2 draw with Chicago Fire. Having played no part in last week’s World Cup qualifiers for Nigeria, the midfielder stole possession early on before dinking the keeper for New England’s quickest goal of the season. On the other hand, Victor Olatunji grabbed a brace in Real Salt Lake’s 2-2 draw at St. Louis, as RSL reached the playoffs.
In the Italian Serie A, Ademola Lookman had a decent outing for Atalanta in their goalless draw with Lazio. Midfielder Ebenezer Akinsanmiro also featured for the whole duration of the match in Pisa’s goalless draw with Hellas Verona.
