Bryan Mbeumo, Nicolas Jackson and Mohamed Salah — the leading African challengers for the Premier League Golden Boot award — all scored at the weekend.
Cameroon international Mbeumo netted twice for Brentford in a 4-3 win over Ipswich, Senegalese Jackson helped Chelsea beat Newcastle 2-1 and Egyptian Salah equalised for Liverpool in a 2-2 draw at Arsenal.
Erling Haaland of Manchester City tops the Golden Boot charts with 11 goals after nine rounds, second-placed Mbeumo has eight, and Jackson and Salah six each.
Here, AFP Sport highlights some of the African headline-makers in the major European leagues.
ENGLAND
MOHAMED SALAH (Liverpool)
Salah slammed home Darwin Nunez’s cross in the 81st minute to ensure Liverpool avoided defeat against title rivals Arsenal in a 2-2 draw. The Egyptian’s sixth league goal of the campaign was his eighth in all competitions.
YOANE WISSA, BRYAN MBEUMO (Brentford)
Wissa and Mbeumo combined to give Brentford a dramatic win over Ipswich having trailed 2-0. On his first start for six weeks due to injury, Democratic Republic of Congo star Wissa’s quickfire double at the end of the first half swung momentum back in Brentford’s favour. Mbeumo made it 3-2 from the penalty spot and then got lucky for the winner deep in stoppage time as his attempted cross flew into the bottom corner.
NICOLAS JACKSON (Chelsea)
Jackson’s hot streak in front of goal continued in a win over Newcastle. He fired in Pedro Neto’s cross to give Chelsea an early lead before Cole Palmer secured victory for the Blues in the second half.
ITALY
ADEMOLA LOOKMAN (Atalanta)
Nigeria winger Lookman has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or on Monday and warmed up for the ceremony by netting twice in the first half in Atalanta’s 6-1 demolition of Verona in Serie A with his team rising to fifth, six points behind leaders Napoli. The 27-year-old has four league goals this season. “It’s a massive moment for the club and also for me,” said Lookman of being nominated for the Ballon d’Or. “A special, special moment. We made history last year, thanks to everyone, we continue to work hard and keep going.”
GERMANY
VICTOR BONIFACE (Bayer Leverkusen)
A week after a car accident left his arm bloodied, Boniface returned to scoring form in Leverkusen’s 2-2 draw at Werder Bremen. Boniface had Leverkusen in front after 30 minutes, slamming in a one-touch finish at the near post from a cross for his sixth goal this season. The 23-year-old was visibly annoyed when replaced with 20 minutes to go.
EL BILAL TOURE (Stuttgart)
Fresh from scoring a stoppage-time winner in Stuttgart’s 1-0 Champions League defeat of Juventus last week, Toure was again on target in a 2-1 win over Holstein Kiel. With Stuttgart cruising but only one goal ahead, Toure unleashed a rocket into the top corner with half an hour remaining.
FRANCE
ZAKARIA ABOUKHLAL (Toulouse)
The 24-year-old Moroccan fired his side out of the relegation zone with two goals in the opening 10 minutes as Toulouse won 3-0 at bottom-of-the-table Montpellier.
HAMED TRAORE (Auxerre)
The Ivorian loanee from Bournemouth got his fourth goal in seven Ligue 1 appearances, and second in a week, when he netted in the 72nd minute to ensure the spoils were shared as Auxerre held hosts Lyon to a 2-2 draw.
