African players in Europe: Osimhen scores after video drama

african players in europe osimhen scores after video drama
AFP

Nigeria star Victor Osimhen put a video drama behind him by coming off the bench and scoring as Napoli trounced Lecce 4-0 in Serie A at the weekend.

The 26-goal leading scorer in the last Italian league campaign was furious after the club posted a video online last week that mocked him for missing a penalty this season.

After his agent threatened legal action, Napoli said they never meant to offend the prolific scorer.

Here, AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the major European leagues:

ENGLAND

JOEL MATIP (Liverpool)

Cameroon defender Matip’s luck deserted him with a 96th-minute own goal as Liverpool’s unbeaten start to the season ended controversially with a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham. The Reds had two men sent off and a goal wrongly ruled out by a VAR error, but looked set to hold out for a vital point. However, Matip’s swipe at Pedro Porro’s low cross flew into the top corner of his net.

ANSU FATI (Brighton)

Guinea-Bissau-born winger Fati scored his first Premier League goal, but it counted for little as Brighton were thrashed 6-1 at Aston Villa. Fati, on loan from Barcelona, slotted home from close range to reduce the Seagulls’ deficit to 3-1 early in the second half before Villa ran riot.

ITALY

VICTOR OSIMHEN (Napoli)

Defending champions Napoli continued a return to form with the Nigerian among the goals as they triumphed at Lecce to go third. Osimhen nodded in a cross from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on 51 minutes to put the visitors two goals ahead.

GERMANY

VICTOR BONIFACE (Bayer Leverkusen)

Boniface could not add to his six Bundesliga goals this season, but the Nigerian made a big impact as Leverkusen won 3-0 at Mainz to top the table. He forced Sepp van den Berg to concede an own goal to give Leverkusen their opener and, midway through the second half, Boniface was fouled to give Bayer a free-kick, which Alejandro Grimaldo converted.

FRANCE

MORY DIAW (Clermont)

The 30-year-old kept his first clean sheet of the season with an inspired performance to help struggling Clermont hold champions Paris Saint-Germain to a goalless draw. He produced 10 saves during the match to deny Kylian Mbappe and PSG’s other attacking stars. It was a day to remember for Diaw, who began his career at PSG but was released by the club without playing a top-team game after a row over a series of controversial tweets. Born in France, he made his debut for Senegal this year against Brazil.

MARSHALL MUNETSI (Reims)

The rampaging Zimbabwe midfielder has had a fine week. On Tuesday he set up both goals for Reims in their 2-1 win at Lille. Then on Sunday he arrived in the box in first-half stoppage time to head home the opening goal as his side beat Lyon 2-0, a result which left them flying high in third place in Ligue 1.

Authored by Afp via Breitbart October 2nd 2023