It was a weekend to forget so soon for Nigerian stars plying their trade with Turkish Super Lig side, Bursaspor. The most influential player in the side, William Troost-Ekong was surprisingly issued a straight red card in the first half for a dangerous tackle in a match the duo of Shehu Abdullahi and Mikel Agu’s labour ended in vain. Bursaspor ended up losing the match 5-0 to Galatasaray. Elsewhere, Nigeria’s version of Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante, Fred Onyekas suffered similar fate as Troost-Ekong as he was shown his first career red in the Danish League.
There was however a tinge of joy in the lower leagues of England as the quintet of Shola Ameobi, Joel Asoro, Fejiri Okenabirhie, Daniel Udoh, Gold Omotayo and Yemi Odubade all scored for their respective clubs.
In far away Inida, veteran striker, Kalu Uche scored a brace for Delhi Dynamos in a late comeback win just as former U-20 forward, Taiwo Awoniyi found the back of the net but could not prevent his club, Royal Mouscron from losing in the Belgian Jupiler League at the weekend.
In yet another extensive report, ADEBAYO OLODAN presents report on the performances of players coach Gernot Rohr will rely on for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
PREMIER LEAGUE
Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City): Ndidi played for 90 mins while Iheanacho was a 62nd min substitute when their club drew 1-1 with Stock City. Ndidi came close to stealing a win for his team as his shot hit the post in the 89th min.
Victor Moses (Chelsea): The right-wingback logged 78mins of his club’s 2-1 loss at Manchester Utd.
Tammy Abraham (Swansea): The Chelsea loanee was a 66th min substitute when his team suffered 4-1 loss at Brighton. He found the corner with a rasping drive five minutes from time.
CARABAO CUP FINAL
Alex Iwobi (Arsenal): He was a 66th minutes substitute as his team suffered a 3 – 0 bashing against Manchester City at the Wembley Stadium.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Joel Asoro and Joshua Maja (Sunderland): Asoro showed off his goal scoring qualities at the Stadium of Light, combining with Maja to open the floodgates after 11 mins in their club’s 3-3 draw with Middlesbrough. The 18-year old forward received a beautiful flick from strike partner, Maja to plant a sensational strike into the top right corner.
Ola Aina earns top ratings In Hull City win
Ola Aina, was one of Hull City’s best players as he was rated highly in their hard-fought 1-0 home win against Sheffield United in the English Championship, Friday night.
The assessment of Hull City’s performance against Sheffield United was done by Hull Daily Mail, with each player rated out of 10.
According to the ratings, Aina got seven for his impressive performance in the win.
Commenting on Aina’s showing in the game, Hull Daily Mail wrote: “From left wing-back to right-back and looked far more assured than at the Riverside 72 hours earlier. Showed far greater concentration and also pushed forward with purpose. Much more like it from the defender.”
Hull’s goal which was scored by Nouha Dicko on 55 mins, secured the 1-0 win and moved them to 20th position on 32 points, three points above the drop zone in the 24-club league table.
The win saw Hull City return to winning ways after back-to-back defeats to Chelsea (4-0) and Middlesbrough (3-1) in the FA Cup and league respectively.
LEAGUE TWO
Shola Ameobi (Notts County): The former Newcastle Utd forward was on target in his team’s 2-0 win over Stevenage. He blasted in from close range after Ben Hall teed him in the 80th min to ensure victory for County.
SCOTLAND
Efe Ambrose (Hibernian): He put in a full shift when his club drew 2-2 away at Kilmarnock.
Chidebere Nwakali (Aberdeen): He was substituted in the 83rd min of his team’s 0-2 loss at home to Celtic.
SPAIN
Ogenekaro Etebo, Emmanuel Emenike and Imoh Ezekiel(Las Palmas): Etebo lasted the duration of his team’s goalless draw with Leganes while Ezekiel came off the substitutes’ bench in the 80th min even as Emenike was not listed for the match.
Brown Ideye and Isaac Success (Malaga): Ideye lasted the duration of his team’s 2-1 loss to Althletic Bilbao while his teammate, Success was an unused substitute.
ITALY
Joel Obi (Torino): He played for 79 mins of his team’s 2-1 loss to Hellas Verona
FRANCE
Chidozie Awaziem (Nantes): He was an unused substitute as his team lost 1-0 to Amiens.
HOLLAND
Umar Sadiq (NAC Breda): The former U-23 striker played the last 31 mins of his club’s 1-1 draw at FC Groningen.
Kingsley Ehizibue (PEC Zwolle): He was substituted in the 79th min when his team suffered a 2-1 loss to Heracles.
Tyronne Ebuehi (ADO Den Haag): He lasted the duration of his team’s goalless draw away at Ajax.
Bartholomew Ogbeche (Willem II): The estranged Super Eagles forward was on for 90 mins when his team defeated Roda JC Kerkrade 1-0.
TURKEY
Mikel Agu, William Troost-Ekong and Shehu Abdullahi (Bursarpor): Troost-Ekong was shown a straight red card after 36 mins for a dangerous tackle, while his compatriots, Abdullahi and Agu were in action for 90 mins as their club was thrashed 5-0 at Galatasaray. Bursaspor is 11th on the table with 27 points from 22 matches.
BELGIUM
Samuel Kalu, Anderson Esiti and Moses Simon (Gent): Kalu lasted 90 mins while the duo of Esiti and Simon were not listed when their club secured a 2-1 win at Waasland-Beveren.
Uche Agbo (Standard Liege) & Denis Bonaventure (Club Brugge): Agbo started the match while Bonaventure scored as a second half substitute in the 72min of the 1-1 draw between their club in a late kick-off.
Taiwo Awoniyi (Royal Mouscron): The former schoolboy international lasted 90 mins and was on target in the 70th min when his team suffered a 5-3 loss at Anderlecht.
RUSSIA
Former U-20 defender, Dele Adeleye joins FC SKA-Khabarovsk
Top division Russian side, SKA-Khabarovsk has confirmed the signing of 29-year-old former U-20 defender, Dele Adeleye on an undisclosed deal.
Adeleye will be having his third spell in Russia after his time with Anzhi and Kuban Krasnodar five years ago. He last played for Aktobe of Kazakhstan three years ago, where he made 29 league appearances and also scored a goal.
SKA-Khabarovsk announced his signing at the weekend, and they will be hoping Adeleye can help them beat the drop to the second division as they are presently placed at the bottom of the 16 team log.
After 20 games SKA-Khabarovsk has picked up just 12 points. No thanks to their defence line which has conceded 37 goals and they will be banking on Adeleye’s experience to plug the obvious issues they have at the back.
The Nigerian has played for Sparta Rotterdam of Holland, Metalurh Donetsk and Tavriya both in Ukraine and also played for Greek side Ergotelis and OFI before his spell in Kazakhstan.
Rated as one of the best upcoming defenders in Nigeria few years ago, Adeleye has failed to build on his strong performance for the Nigeria U20, U23s and the senior national team during his formative years.
Aaron Samuel completes Amkar Perm loan switch
Amkar Perm has completed the loan signing of Aaron Samuel Olanare on a four-month loan deal from CSKA Moscow.
The striker joined his new club after enjoying a blistering run in front of the goal while trying out with Amkar Perm. He will hope to convince Super Eagles manager, Gernot Rohr to earn a place in his World Cup squad.
SWITZERLAND
Stephen Odey (FC Zurich): Was an unused substitute when his club lost 0 -1 to FC Grasshoppers
AUSTRIA
Alhassan Ibrahim (Austria Wien): He lasted the duration of his club’s 2-1 loss at Admiral Moedling.
Yusuf Otubanjo (Altach): He came on in the 61st min of his club’s 1-1 draw with Mattersburg.
DENMARK
Nigeria’s ‘N’Golo Kante’ receives first career red: Young midfielder, Frank Onyeka received the first red card of his career in FC Midtjylland’s 2-1 win at Hobro in the Danish Super Liga.
Prior to the weekend’s game at DS Arena, Onyeka had seen his profile rise with two goals in his last two games in the division against AC Horsens and FC Copenhagen and manager Jess Thorup had no choice but to include him in the starting line-up aganst Hobro.
16 minutes into the game, the midfielder was yellow carded for a tackle on Frans Dhia Putros, and got sent off for a second bookable offense in the 62nd minute.
Two minutes before the Nigerian took the walk of shame, he almost provided an assist for Mads Døhr Thychosen, but Hobro goalkeeper Jesper Rask made a brilliant save.
Onyeka is considered an utility player as he can be deployed as a central defender, central midfielder, defensive midfielder or winger, and started in attack in today’s match against Hobro.
Hailed as the New N’Golo Kante by the official website of FC Midtjylland , the 20-year-old spent his formative years with FC Ebedei before his arrival at Midtjylland’s football academy in January 2016.
LITHUANIA
Zalgiris signs Louis Ogana: Lithuania’s vice-champions, FK Zalgiris has announced the signing of 22-year-old forward, Ugochukwu Louis Ogana.
The leggy striker was previously a player of Portuguese club, SC nd has committed to his new club on a long term deal after finding playing time limited at his former club.
CHINA
John Owoeri pens Shanghai Shenxin deal
Former U-20 forward, John Owoeri has joined Chinese League One club Shanghai Shenxin.
According to the striker’s intermediary Martin Dahlin, Owoeri inked a two-year contract with Shanghai Shenxin on Friday, which will keep him at the club until the end of the 2019 season.
Last term, Owoeri turned out for another League One team Baoding Yingli Yitong, for whom he scored 14 goals in 28 matches.
The 31-year-old had been on the books of BK Hacken prior to his move to China, and was the top scorer in the Swedish Allsvenskan in 2016.
He was one of the standout players for the Flying Eagles that reached the final of the 2005 U-20 World Cup in the Netherlands, and his performance earned him a move to the great Eredivisie side Feyenoord.
After a brief loan spell in Belgium with Westerlo, Owoeri moved back to Nigeria to link up with Enyimba, followed by stints with Heartland, Ismaily and Warri Wolves.
Molde new signing Daniel Chima used to play for Shanghai Shenxin before returning to Europe last year.
INDIA
Kalu Uche (Delhi Dynamos): The red-hot former Super Eagles forward, can’t stop scoring as he netted a brace in Delhi Dynamos’ late 4-3 come from behind win against ATK in the Indian Super League. Recall that the veteran forward scored midweek in his team’s 1-1 draw away at FC Goa.
EGYPT
Junior Ajayi (Al Ahly): Al Ahly made it 13 consecutive win across all competitions after beating Entag El-Harby 2-1 with goals from Ahmed Hamoudi and Junior Ajayi. The former Shooting Stars forward scored his team’s second goal from a rebounded shot. Ajayi’s goal was his eighth of the league campaign.
The result keeps Al Ahly in first place – 21 points ahead of second-placed Zamalek, while Entag El-Harby remain in sixth place.
MOROCCO
Wydad’s Chisom Chikatara thankful for CAF Super Cup triumph
Wydad Casablanca forward, Chisom Chikatara is thankful following his team’s 1-0 defeat of TP Mazembe to win the 2018 CAF Super Cup.
Amin Tighazoui’s 83rd-minute effort was enough for the 2017 Champions League winners to see off the Confederation Cup holders at the Stade Mohamed V.
And the Super Eagles fringe forward who was on parade for 63 minutes in the encounter has appreciated the fans for their support after lifting his second continental trophy with Faouzi Benzarti’s side.
“1st thanks to God Thanks to the fans, Great team work….. #champoinofafrica Caf super cup…. I believe in progress I believe it will only get better… Once again THANKS TO THE FANS YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING DIMA DIMA WYDAD @pretty_jannie10 @chisom_chikatara_fan_page.”
