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African players in Europe: Mbeumo maintains scoring streak

James Maddison (L) of Tottenham Hotspur shields the ball from Yankuba Minteh of Brighton
AFP

Cameroon forward Bryan Mbeumo maintained his hot scoring streak with a goal for Brentford in their 5-3 Premier League victory over Wolves at the weekend.

It was his sixth goal in seven league matches this season for the Bees — only 10-goal Erling Haaland of Manchester City has netted more often.

Mbeumo now turns his attention to 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying with Cameroon playing Kenya in Yaounde on Friday and in Kampala three days later.

Here, AFP Sport highlights some of the Africans who starred in the major European leagues.

ENGLAND

BRYAN MBEUMO (Brentford), RAYAN AIT-NOURI (Wolves)

Mbeumo netted from the penalty spot in Brentford’s thrilling win over Wolves. Algeria defender Ait-Nouri’s powerful low finish for the visitors was merely a consolation late on as Wolves remain rooted to the foot of the table.

MOHAMMED KUDUS (West Ham)

Kudus scored for the first time this season as West Ham thrashed Ipswich 4-1. The Ghanaian headed in from close range on the rebound after Michail Antonio’s initial effort came back off the bar.

YANKUBA MINTEH (Brighton)

Minteh kickstarted an incredible Brighton fightback from 2-0 down to beat Tottenham 3-2. The Gambian pounced on a poor clearance from Destiny Udogie to rifle in his first Premier League goal.

ITALY

JORDAN ZEMURA (Udinese)

London-born left-back Zemura, a Zimbabwe international, scored the only goal with a curling free-kick in the 75th minute as Udinese defeated Lecce 1-0. The win allowed Udinese to move to fifth in Serie A, three points behind leaders Napoli. “Zemura is a very good player with both feet, the move worked and I am happy, he is a boy who has potential to be exploited further,” said Udinese coach Kosta Runjaic.

GERMANY

OMAR MARMOUSH (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Egyptian forward Marmoush scored twice, including an injury-time equaliser which earned Eintracht Frankfurt a 3-3 draw to deny Bayern Munich a two-point cushion at the top of the Bundesliga. Marmoush raced clear, punishing slack Bayern defending to grab a point. The 25-year-old is the top scorer in the German top flight so far this season with eight goals.

VICTOR BONIFACE (Bayer Leverkusen)

The Nigerian notched his fourth Bundesliga goal of the season but couldn’t stop reigning champions Leverkusen from throwing away a two-goal lead and drawing 2-2 with newly promoted Holstein Kiel. Boniface’s goals are going to be crucial if misfiring Leverkusen are to find a run of form and prevent Bayern from winning back the title.

FRANCE

MARSHALL MUNETSI (Reims)

Zimbabwe midfielder Munetsi wore the captain’s armband and scored for the third time in four matches as Reims beat Montpellier 4-2 to sit fourth in Ligue 1, behind Marseille only on goal difference. Ivory Coast forward Oumar Diakite was also on target for Reims, who are unbeaten in six games since losing to Lille on the opening weekend of the campaign.

M’BALA NZOLA (Lens)

Angolan international Nzola made it two goals in three Ligue 1 appearances for Lens as he netted the opener in their 2-2 draw at Strasbourg. The 28-year-old Nzola grew up in France, but had made his name as a player in Italy before joining Lens in August on loan from Fiorentina.

via October 6th 2024