Nigerian Players Abroad: Anthony Nwakaeme and Semi Ajayi continue scoring form, Stephen Odey ends goal drought, Aina sees red

Nwakaeme, Ajayi and Odeh are among the stars in focus in this week’s review of the performances of Nigerian players abroad. 

England 

We start from England where no Nigerian player was involved in the quarter-final fixtures of the FA Cup.  

In the Premier League, Wilfred Ndidi was in action for 90 minutes for Leicester City who got another win for new manager Brendan Rodgers with a 2-1 victory away at Burnley on Saturday. Ndidi was impressive in the game making fey clearances and winning duels in midfield. 

Championship

Going down a division in England, Nigerian defender Semi Ajayi continued his goalscoring form with another goal for Rotherham on Saturday. Playing in a midfield role, Ajayi scored the 52nd-minute equaliser for Rotherham against Norwich although the Millers went on to lose the game 1-2.

Oghenekaro Etebo played the whole 90 minutes in Stoke City’s goalless draw at home to Reading. Etebo was tenacious in midfield, putting in a lot of work which was however not enough for Stoke City to get a win. 

Super Eagles captain Mikel Obi played the 90 minutes for Middlesbrough who were thrashed 3-0 away at Aston Villa. Mikel was his composed self in the game but Aston Villa were too rampant for him and his teammates. 

In Spain 

Nigerian forward Moses Simon was a second-half substitute for Levante who managed a 1-1 draw away at Real Sociedad. 

Kenneth Omeruo could not stop Leganes from conceding any goals as they were beaten 2-0 at home by Girona. Omeruo was caught out of position when Girona went on to score the two goals of the game. 

Forward Samuel Chukwueze was on from the start as Villarreal came down from a goal down to beat Rayo Vallecano 3-1. Chukwueze was very lively in the game causing a lot of problems for Vallecano defence. It was his pass although deflected that led to Villarreal’s first game of the game. 

In Italy 

It wasn’t a good ending for Ola Aina who got sent off late in Torino’s 2-3 home loss to Bologna. It was a bad day in the office for Aina who didn’t defend well one a couple of occasions. He was beaten in the corner in a move that led to Bologna’s first goal and couldn’t catch up with Riccardo Orsolini who scored after a good counter-attack. His miserable afternoon was complete after he was sent off for a second bookable offence. 

Super Eagles defender William Troost-Ekong made his 28th Serie A appearance for Udinese who were beaten 4-2 away at second-place Napoli. Despite the defeat, Troost-Ekong put in a good game.

Serie B 

Down a division in Italy, Super Eagles striker Simy Nwankwo grabbed his fifth league goal of the season for Crotone in their 2-2 draw at home to Lecce. That was his fourth in his last five games for Crotone. 

Nigerian forward David Okereke got a goal and an assist for Spezia who got a 3-2 win away at Benevento. Okereke netted in the 67th minute to give Spezia a 3-1 lead but Benevento got a late goal to make it 3-2.

In Turkey 

Nigerian forward Victor Moses was impressive for Fenerbahce who managed a home 2-1 win over Sivasspor on Friday. Moses was on for 90 minutes and made an assist, setting up Roberto Soldado to level for Fenerbahce who came back from a goal down to win 2-1 in the Turkish Super Lig. 

Nigerian defender Chidozie Awaziem impressive form in Turkey continues as he was solid again for Rizespor got a 2-0 win over Konyaspor on Saturday. Awaziem was solid again at the back to keep another clean sheet. 

His teammates and compatriots Azubuike Okechukwu and Aminu Umar were also involved in the game. Okechukwu was also on for 90 minutes in the game and had an impressive outing in midfield while Umar was introduced in the second half.  

Inform Anthony Nwakaeme was the man again for Trabzonspor who got all three points with a 1-0 away win at Erzurumspor. Nwakaeme got the all-important goal for Trabzonspor in the 64th minute. The goal came after he exchanged passes with Caleb Ekubam before going on his trademark run and then slotting past the goalkeeper for his eighth goal of the season.

Nigerian forward Samuel Eduok was also on for 90 minutes in that game but could not save Erzurumspor from a home defeat. 

Super Eagles forward Henry Onyekuru set up the winning goal for Galatasaray who came down from two goals down to beat Bursaspor who had Nigerian defender Shehu Abdullahi on for 90 minutes. 

Playing from the left, Onyekuru was on against his compatriot Abdullahi who was playing as a right back but that didn’t stop the Galatasaray forward from impressing. With the game at 2-2, it was Onyekuru who set up Sofiane Feghouli for the winner with a simple pass just outside the area. 

Abdullahi played the 90 minutes of the game for Bursaspor. 

In the United States 

Former Golden Eaglets star Orji Okonkwo scored his first goal for MLS side Montreal Impact in their 3-0 win away at Orlando City. On-loan from Bologna in the Italian Serie A, it was the 21-year-old that scored Impact’s first goal of the game. 

In Switzerland 

Former MFM FC striker Stephen Odey ended his poor run of five games without a goal as he scored in FC Zurich’s 2-1 home win over Neuchatel Xamax in the Swiss Super League. The Nigerian striker was included in the Team of the Week in Switzerland for his effort. 

Another Nigerian Noah Okafor also made the Team of the Week after getting the equaliser for FC Basel in their 2-2 draw at home to Young Boys. Okafor netted in the 53rd minute with a well-struck shot from outside the area to get his third goal in 16 league appearances this season.

In Denmark 

Nigerian player Frank Onyeka got on the scoresheet for FC Midtjylland in their 2-1 win over SonderjyskE in the Superliga