A week after William Troost-Ekong was shown a straight red card in Turkey, his central defence partner in the Super Eagles, Leon Balogun was given the marching orders after a second bookable offence in the 62nd minute in Germany. Also shown a red card in the Jupiler League at the weekend is former schoolboy international, Taiwo Awoniyi.
There was however celebration for former U-23 striker, Umar Sadiq who scored his third goal in five matches since he joined Eredivisie club, NAC Breda on loan from AS Roma.
In far away India, Kalu Uche continued his goal-scoring spree as he hit another brace in Delhi Dynamos 2-2 draw with former club, FC Pune City.
In yet another comprehensive report, ADEBAYO OLODAN captures the performances of Nigerian players from the Premiership to the Asian continent.
ENGLAND
Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City): Ndidi went the distance while his compatriot, Iheanacho was introduced after 59 mins, forcing the late foul which earned his side the free kick to score as their club shared the spoils with Bournemouth 1-1 at the King Power Stadium.
Tammy Abraham (Swansea): He started on the bench but was thrown into the fray in stoppage time with the game firmly decided at 4-1 against West Ham Utd.
Alex Iwobi (Arsenal): He was substituted in the 74th min when his team suffered a 1-2 loss at Brighton.
Victor Moses (Chelsea): The wing-back logged 90 mins when his team suffered a 1-0 loss to runaway champions, Manchester City.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Chinedu Obasi joins Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers has announced the signing of Chinedu Obasi until the end of the season.
A statement on the official site states:
“Bolton Wanderers are pleased to confirm the signing of Chinedu Obasi on a short-term deal until the end of the season, subject to international clearance. The 31-year-old was last on the books of Swedish side AIK, and completes his move to Macron Stadium following a successful trial period.”
Capped at every international level for Nigeria, including the Olympics, Edu Obasi brings a wealth of experience to Bolton. The forward has played 18 times for Nigeria, scoring four times.
Obasi also has experience of playing in different countries, having played in Norway, Germany, China and Sweden.
Obasi signed after playing and scoring for Wanderers’ U-23 side against Burnley last week at the Macron.
Meanwhile, the club manager, Phil Parkinson, has admitted Obasi is still way off in terms of fitness but hopes the Nigerian will be a good asset for the club.
“We haven’t been able to see a great deal of him in training,” Parkinson told the club’s official website.
“He had the option to go back to Europe and he was happy to sign for us on a pay as you play deal. This gives us an option to look at him further.
“I felt he is quite the way off in terms of fitness wise and he’s got work to do in the Under-23s. He needs a couple games but hopefully he could be an asset for us.
“He played for FC Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga, so he is a player who has performed at a good level,”
The vastly travelled Obasi has featured for clubs in Norway, Germany, Sweden and China.
LA LIGA
Brown Ideye and Isaac Success (Malaga): Ideye was introduced in the 67th min while Success played no role as Malaga lost 2-0 to Leganes to remain bottom of the log.
Oghenekaro Etebo celebrates Barca draw
Las Palmas midfielder, Oghenekaro Etebo who put in a full shift in his team’s 1-1 draw against champions in waiting, FC Barcelona on Thursday, has expressed his excitement over the result.
Etebo was highly impressive against Barcelona’s midfield trio of Andres Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets.
The CD Feirense loanee, plays alongside compatriot, Emmanuel Emenike and Imoh Ezekiel for the struggling Spanish side.
An elated Etebo took to his official Instagram page at the weekend to express his joy and wrote; “ We gained a good point last night against fierce opposition. Our supporters were amazing once again,” he posted.
Next up for Las Palmas is the tie against Celta Vigo, today.
BUNDESLIGA
Leon Balogun and Anthony Ujah (Mainz 05): Balogun was sent off in the 62nd min while Ujah played the last two mins of their club’s goalless draw with Hamburg.
Victor Osimhen (Wolfsburg): The former U-17 striker did not make the match day squad as his team lost 1-2 at home to Bayer Leverkusen.
FRANCE
Vincent Enyeama (Lille): He was not listed when his team crashed 1-2 at Nice.
RUSSIA
Ahmed Musa (CSKA): The former Leicester loanee was substituted two minutes into second-half stoppage time in his club’s 1-0 win over Ural at VEB Arena.
Aaron Samuel, Brian Idowu and Fegor Ogude (Amkar): Samuel was substituted in the 77th min, Idowu came on in the 65th min while Ogude rose from the substitutes’ bench in the 75th min of their club’s goalless draw at Zenit St. Petersburg.
Sylvester Igboun and Kehinde Fatai (Ufa): The duo played insignificant roles as their club secured a 1-1 draw with Dinamo Moscow.
HOLLAND
Sadiq Umar (NAC Breda): The former U-23 forward scored in the 49th min, his third goal in five matches for NAC Breda as the Rat Verlegh Stadion outfit pulled off a sensational 2-1 victory over Feyenoord.
The 21-year old drew a foul from Feyenoord goalkeeper, Brad Jones in the 49th min before stepping up to fire in from the spot to ensure the win.
The victory proved efficient enough to push Breda seven points clear of the bottom three in the division as they continue to reap dividends of the Roma starlet’s goal scoring prowess.
Kingsley Ehizibue (PEC Zwolle): He was on for 90 mins when his club was held to a 1-1 draw by VVV Venlo.
Tyronne Ebuehi (ADO Den Haag) & Ryan Sanusi (Sparta Rotterdam): The duo logged 90 mins for their respective clubs as Sparta Rotterdam defeated Ebuehi’s club 2-1.
Bartholomew Ogeche (Willem II): He fired blank for 90mins when his club suffered a 2-0 loss away at Herenveen.
BELGIUM
Uche Agbo (Standard Liege): He played 90 mins and cautioned in the 58th min as his team defeated KV Mechelen 3-2.
Abduljeleel Ajagun (Kortrijk): The former U-20 skipper was substituted in the 82nd min of his team’s 2-1 defeat against Club Brugge.
Moses Simon, Samuel Kalu and Anderson Esiti (Gent) & Joseph Akpala (Oostende): Simon was introduced with 20 mins left to play, Kalu put in a full shift while Esiti was left on the substitutes’ bench as their club suffered a 2-3 loss at home to Oostende for whom Akpala scored one of the goals.
Akpala took a pass from teammate, Emmanuel Banda in the 76th minute to power in a sizzling shot into the bottom right corner, his fifth goal in the league this campaign. The out-of-favour Super Eagles striker, has now scored in three consecutive matches against Zulte-Waregem, Lokeren and Club Brugge in 2018 and netted against Lokeren in October 2017.
Taiwo Awoniyi (Royal Excel Mouscron): The former schoolboy international received a straight red card in the 75th min as his team crashed 1-2 against Lokeren.
TURKEY
Mikel Agu, William Troost-Ekong and Shehu Abdullahi (Bursaspor): Abdullahi lasted 90 mins, Agu made a cameo appearance in the 89th min while Troost-Ekong is serving out suspension as their club secured a 1-0 win over Kayserispor.
Kenneth Omeruo and Samuel Eduok (Kasimpasa): Omeruo who was cautioned in the 79th min lasted 90 mins while Eduok came on in the 89th min of their team’s 1-1 draw with Osmanlispor.
UKRAINE
Olanrewaju Kayode joins Shaktar Donetsk
Manchester City striker, Olanrewaju Kayode has joined Ukrainian club, Shakhtar Donetsk on loan after seeing a move to French club, Amiens fall through.
The agreement between The Miners and Man City will keep Kayode at the Ukrainian side until the end of the 2017-2018 season.
Shakhtar Donetsk has the option to buy the striker out of his contract with the Citizens when the summer transfer window opens for business.
The former Golden Eaglets and Flying Eagles star penned a four-year deal with City in August 2017 before he was immediately sent out on loan to partner club Girona in Spain.
The 24-year-old started his career in Europe with Swiss team Lucerne, before spells at Maccabi Netanya and Austria Vienna.
He made 13 appearances for Girona in all competitions before he was recalled early from his loan spell owing to limited playing opportunities in the first half of this season.
The Ukrainian transfer window closed on Friday, March 2.
ISRAEL
Ankle injury rules out Anthony Nwakeme from Poland, Serbia friendlies
Hapoel Beer Sheva striker, Anthony Nwakaeme is unlikely to be called up for the national team’s upcoming friendlies against Poland and Serbia.
Nwakaeme has been struggling with an ankle injury for the past three months and Hapoel Beer Sheva medics have decided that the player should be pulled out of Eagles friendlies to enable him undergo treatment in order to regain full fitness.
The 28-year-old will miss at least two games, against Ironi Kiryat Shmona and Bnei Sakhnin, and can only rejoin the squad in the next two weeks, the last match day before the international break, if his treatment goes according to the plan.
Nwakaeme according to report is yet to be contacted by officials of the Nigeria Football Federation as regards his invitation for the friendlies in Wroclaw and London and his latest injury has crippled any hopes he has of making the squad.
The Vejle Football Academy product is having another good season at the Israeli champions, after scoring 13 goals with 7 assists from 31 appearances in all competitions.
AUSTRIA
Bright Edomwonyi (Sturm Graz): He lasted 89 mins and was cautioned in the 25th min, when his team secured a 2-0 win at LASK.
Alhassan Ibrahim (Austria Wien): The former Akwa Utd forward was missing when his team defeated Wolfsberger 2-0.
DENMARK
Kim Ojo (Lyngby): He played the last 19 mins of his team’s 0-3 loss at home to Hobro.
DIV II
Peter Utaka (Vejle): The former Super Eagles striker lasted 57 mins on the pitch when his team was held to a goalless draw by their nearest challengers for an automatic promotion spot; Thisted. The former OB hero joined Vejle on a short-term contract in February.
INDIA
Kalu Uche (Delhi Dynamos): The former Super Eagles forward continued his goal scoring exploit with a brace in his club’s 2-2 draw with former club, FC Pune City. He had earlier scored the fourth goal in the 5-1 defeat of Mumbai City from the bench.
