…Mikel wants England stay
Super Eagles players and hopefuls signed-off the 2018/19 season in spectacular fashion for their respective clubs in Europe at the weekend.
Forgotten striker, Simy Nwankwo scored a goal and contributed an assist in what appeared his last match for Serie B, club, Crotone as they defeated Ascoli 3-0.
Also, Victor Osimhen scored his 16th goal in 32 appearances for Sporting Charleroi in the Belgian League playoffs just as Tammy Abraham and Aminu Umar found the back of the net in the English Championship and Turkish League respectively.ย Everton loanee, Henry Onyekuru also provided an assist in Galatasarayโs 3-2 win over Rizespor.
In the Premier League, Alex Iwobi provided two assists as Arsenal secured a surprise 3-1 win over Burnley.
In this report, the News Editor, ADEBAYO OLODAN scouts Europe and Asia for the performances of Nigerian players abroad.
ENGLAND
Alex Iwobi (Arsenal): He lasted 90 mins and provided two assists as his club defeatedย ย Burnley 3-1 away from home. Iwobi provided an assist for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the 62nd min while his second of the day was provided for Eddie Nketiah in regulation time.
Ademola Lookman (Everton): The youngster was introduced with 25mins left to play as his team held UEFA Champions League finalist, Tottenham Hotspur to a 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane.
Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City): Ndidi was substituted in the 67th min while Iheanacho was a non-playing substitute when their club was held to a goalless draw by Chelsea.
Isaac Success (Watford): The former schoolboy international was an unused substitute when his club suffered a 1-4 loss at home to West Ham United.
Leon Balogun (Brighton & Hove Albion): The central defender was not considered for his clubโs 1- 4 loss to league champions, Manchester City.
Bournemouth recalls Ofoborh from Flying Eagles camp
Bournemouth midfielder Nnamdi Ofoborh has left the Flying Eagles camp in Germany for England ahead of Sundayโs Premier league final round of matches.
It is understood that Ofoborh departed from the camp on Friday following a request from the premier league team to have him play for the first team against Crystal Palace which is the last match of the season.
The player is expected to named in Paul Aigbogun squad for the U-20 World Cup in Poland after impressing in the camp.
The player is expected to return to Flying Eagles training camp in Germany and will continue preparation with other players before Aigbogun names his final squad for the U-20 FIFA World Cup in Poland in the coming weeks.
Ofoborh scored a goal in Flying Eagles 3-1 win against German third division side, VfR Aalen in a friendly.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Tammy Abraham (Aston Villa): The leggy forward scored from the spot in the 79th min to seal Villaโs 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion in the first leg of the playoff.
Viv Solomon-Otabor (Portsmouth): He was brought on in the 67th min of his teamโs 0-1 reverse at Sunderland.
Norwich, Sheffield target Mikel
John Obi Mikel is being tracked by newly promoted English Premier League club, Norwich City ahead of the 2019/20 English Premier League season.
Norwich City lifted the Championship trophy after a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa saw them fend off the challenge of Sheffield United on a final day.
The midfielder joined the Teesside outfit in January as a free agent but his short term deal with English Championship club, Middlesbrough ends this summer.
Mikel is also being courted by Sheffield Wednesday who finished 12th this season in the Championship according to a report on Northern Echo.
The 31-year-old made 18 appearances for Middlesbrough scoring just once.
On the international scene, it is yet to be seen if Mikel would represent Nigeria at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
The former Chelsea midfielder has not featured for Nigeria since the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Meanwhile, Mikel has expressed his desire to remain in England.
โI think I will prefer to stay in England and continue my education in football, my family is here and it is a country that I have lived for more than 10 years, so preferably I will play in England next season hopefully in the EPL.
โI enjoyed my stay in Middlesborough wonderful team mates and back room staff, but in football mobility is part of the job.โ
ITALY
Ola Aina (Torino): The Chelsea loanee was not listed when his team secured a 3-2 win over Sassuolo.
William Troost-Ekong (Udinese): He was substituted with 14 mins left to play as his club thrashed Frosinone 3-1 at their backyard.
SERIE B
Simy scores to sign-off Crotone career
Simy Nwankwo produced a man of the match performance to end his Crotone career on a high as he scored one and assisted another in their 3-0 win over visiting Ascoli.
Playing in his last game for the club, Simy graced the pitch for the last time at the Stadio Ezio Scida as helped the home fans finish the season on a high.
The AFCON 2019 hopeful opened the scoring for the host five minutes before half time to notch up his 14th league goal of the campaign.
He then set up Stefano Pettinari three minutes after the restart to make it 2-0 to Crotone before Ahmad Benali made it 3-0 on the 57th minute to complete a perfect afternoon for the home fans.
The 27-year-old now leaves the club in high regard with his 14 goals and 3 assists helping the club remain in the Serie B despite a rough start to the season.
Okerekeโs Spezia faces Verona in promotion playoff
David Okereke was introduced in the second half for his Italian Serie B side, Spezia as they fell 1-2 to Leeceat the Comunale Via De Mare stadium, on Saturday.
Okereke came on for Emmanuel Gyasi in the 62nd minute but couldnโt prevent his side from ending the season with a defeat.
Okereke, who scored 10 goals in the Serie B has made 30 appearances for Spezia this season as they failed to gain automatic promotion to the Seria A.
However, Spezia finished seventh in the log and will face sixth placed Hellas Verona in the promotional playoff quarter-final clash on the 17th of May, 2019.
GERMANY
Felix Ohis Uduokhai (Wolfsburg): He was an unused substitute as Stuttgart trounced his club 3-0.
BELGIUM
Victor Osimhen (Charleroi): The striker continued his rich rein of form by grabbing a goal in their 3-0 win against Beerschot-Wilrijk at the Olympisch Stadion, Antwerp.
Osimhen scored Charleroiโs second goal in the 25th min of the encounter.
It was the forwardโs 16th league goal of the campaign for Sporting Charleroi.
The 20-year-old who is loan at Sporting Charleroi from German club Wolfsburg was replaced by Jeremy Perbet nine minutes from time.
Osimhen confirms AC Milan interest
Victor Osimhen has expressed his delight over reports linking him to a move to Italian Serie A giants, AC Milan.
The 20-year-old whoโs on loan at Belgian side, Charleroi from German club, Wolfsburg has scored 16 goals in 32 games this season and has caught the attention of big teamโs in Europe.
โI donโt want to force anything, but I would like to be clear before the end of the seasonโ Osimhen said.
โMehdi Bayat told me that there is a lot of interest and AC Milanโs interest flatters meโ.
The forward who bagged hat trick in Dream Team VII second leg U-23 AFCON qualifier victory over Libya in Asaba added that he would sort out his future come end of the season.
โAt the end of the season we will see what the best choice is. Money is not important. I want to grow as a player firstโ.
TURKEY
Moses revels in Fenerbahceโs back-to-back wins
Victor Moses is delighted to help Fenerbahce record another important win the Turkish Super Lig , a 2-1 home win against Akhisarspor on Saturday.
Moses who returned to action for the former league champions last weekend after spending two weeks out due to groin injury replaced Mehmet Topal in the 11th minute of the encounter.
Roberto Soldado and Nabil Dirar netted Fenerbahceโs goals in the first half, while Helder Barbosa scored for Akhisarspor in the second half.
The former Nigeria international took to the social media to celebrate the important win.
โBack to back wins! On to the next, the lads were brilliant again ??,โ Moses tweeted via his Twitter handle on Sunday.
The 28-year-old who is on loan at Fenerbahce from English Premier League club Chelsea has made 12 league appearances for the club and scored two goals.
The former Turkish champions now occupy 10th position in the table with 40 points from 32 matches.
Henry Onyekuru (Galatasaray) & Chidozie Awaziem, Azubuike Okechukwu and Aminu Umar (Rizespor): Onyekuru bagged an assist as his team secured a hard fought 3-2 away win against Rizespor with Nigerian trio, Awaziem, Okechukwu lasting 90 mins while Umar was replaced in stoppage time by the home team.
Fathi Terimโs maintained top spot in the table with 66 points from 34 matches.
Algerian midfielder Sofiane Feghouli opened scoring for Galatasaray in the ninth minute after he was teed up Onyekuru. The hosts rallied back and got the equaliser through Vedat Muri on the stroke of half time. Umar gave them the lead for the first time in the game in the 74th minute. It was his fifth goal in 25 league appearances for Caykur Rizespor this season. The game ended in dramatic fashion with Mbaye Diagne scoring twice in stoppage time to hand Galatasaray all three points.
Onyekuru who was on target in the Istanbul derby against Besiktas last week has scored 13 goals in 29 Turkish top-flight games so far this season.
Shehu Abdullahi (Bursaspor): He produced a fine display at the back for his relegation threatened team as they secured an impressive 1-0 win away at Antalyaspor.
Without a win in their last seven league outings, Abdullahi was handed just his 7th league start of the campaign as the visitors went in search of their sixth league win of the season.
The right-back was on for the entire match duration and had a game rating of 7.0 as the Crocodiles move just above Erzurumspor to 16th on the log with 33 points from 32 games.
GREECE
Chuba Akpom (PAOK): The former Arsenal youngster netted the winning goal when his team defeated AEK Athens 1-0 to win the FA Cup. He scored the decisive goal in first half stoppage time.
SAUDI ARABIA
Ahmed Musa (Al Nassr): He lasted 81 mins in his clubโs 3-0 away win against Al Hazm at the Ar-Rass Stadium. Musa was replaced by Fahad Bin Jumayah nine minutes from time.
The winger who joined Al Nassr from English Premier League side Leicester City last summer has scored seven goals in 23 league appearances for the club.
CHINAย
Ighalo out for 2 weeks
Odion Ighalo who has scored seven goals in eight matches will be out for two weeks after he sustained injury in the early hours of the last match where his club drew the match 1-1.
It is expected that Ighalo injury will be a major worry for Gernot Rohr as the Nations Cup camping draws nearer, Igalo who was the highest goal scorer in AFCON qualifiers with 7 goals presently has scored 7 goals in 8 matches in the on-going season for his new club Shanghai Shenhua before he got injured in the last match.
TUNISIA
Junior Lokosa (Esperance): The former Lobi Stars forward scored on his first start for his Tunisian club as they defeated US Monastir 3-1 in the FA Cup. Lokosa who gave a good account of himself in the game also bagged an assist. Esperance will square up against CS Sfaxien in the semi-final on Tuesday in Sfax.
DID YOU KNOW?
1. Liverpool became the first team in top-flight history to win as many as 30 games and 97 points in a season and not win the title. Additionally, no side has ever previously lost just one game in a top-flight season and not win the title.
2. This was the eighth time the Premier League title has been decided on the final day of the season, with Man City winning it on three of those occasions (2011-12, 2013-14 and 2018-19).
3. Man City and Liverpool have combined to win 195 points in 2018-19; the most accumulated by the top two in a single English top-flight season.
4. Man City has won their fourth Premier League title โ only Man Utd (13) and Chelsea (5) have ever won more in the competition.
5. Liverpoolโs Trent Alexander-Arnold has provided 12 assists in the Premier League in 2018-19: the most by a defender in a single campaign in the competition.
6. Since his debut in the Premier League in September 2013, Spursโ Christian Eriksen has scored the most direct free kicks (7) and most goals from outside the box (22).
7. Theo Walcott has been directly involved in 10 goals against Spurs in the Premier League (six goals, four assists); his joint-most against a single opponent in the competition (also 10 v Newcastle).
8. Arsenal has kept just one league clean sheet away from home this season, their fewest in a single top-flight campaign since 1967-68 (also one).
9. Since their return to the Premier League in 2015-16, Watford has picked up 16 red cards in the competitions, more than any other side.
10. Gerard Deulofeu’s goal for Watford was the quickest at the start of the second half in the Premier League since January 2018 (also 45:11 – Marko Arnautovic v Huddersfield).
11. Only Swansea (12) has scored more Premier League own goals than Bournemouth (9) since their first campaign in 2015-16.
12.ย Manuel Lanzini has scored his first Premier League goal since the final day of the 2017-18 season (two goals v Everton on May 13th).
13. David Silva’s assist for Sergio Aguero’s goal was his 18th for the Argentine, only three players have assisted another more often in the Premier League; Anderton to Teddy Sheringham (20) Steve McManaman to Robbie Fowler (20) Frank Lampard to Didier Drogba (24).
14. Man Utd has only kept two home clean sheets in the Premier League this season, their fewest at Old Trafford in a top-flight campaign since 1962-63.
15. Liverpoolโs Sadio Mane has now scored the opening goal of the game on nine separate occasions in the Premier League, the joint-most of any player this season alongside Mohamed Salah.
16.ย Only Paolo Di Canio (47) has scored more Premier League goals for West Ham United than Mark Noble (41 – level with Carlton Cole).
17. Excluding penalties, no team has conceded more goals from set pieces than Everton (15) in the Premier League this season.
