African players in europe: bony bags brace as ivorians hit target

Ivory Coast and Swansea striker Wilfried Bony experienced mixed emotions away to Liverpool at the weekend, bagging a brace in a 4-3 English Premier League loss.

Compatriot and African Footballer of the Year Yaya Toure was more successful, hitting the goal that gave title challengers Manchester City a 1-0 home win over Stoke City.

Arthur Boka was another unhappy Ivorian scorer — his first goal of the season for German outfit Stuttgart could not prevent a 2-1 home defeat by Hertha Berlin.

ENGLAND

YAYA TOURE (Manchester City)
Toure made sure that City kept on the tail of league leaders Chelsea by scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win at home to Stoke City. The Ivory Coast midfielder struck in the 70th minute at the Etihad Stadium, converting a low cross from Aleksandar Kolarov to take his tally for the season to 13 league goals.

WILFRIED BONY (Swansea City)
Bony claimed a brace but finished on the losing side as Swansea went down 4-3 at Liverpool. The Ivorian striker equalised twice, heading home via a deflection off Martin Skrtel in the 27th minute and then scoring from the penalty spot early in the second period, only for Jordan Henderson to give Liverpool victory with 16 minutes remaining.

AHMED ELMOHAMADY (Hull City)
Egypt wide midfielder Elmohamady produced one of his best performances of the season in Hull’s impressive 4-0 success at second-bottom Cardiff City. He teed up Jake Livermore to score Hull’s fourth goal in the 67th minute with a surging run down the right flank.

VICTOR ANICHEBE (West Bromwich Albion)
A 44th-minute replacement for Billy Jones, Anichebe played a central role as West Brom snatched a 1-1 draw at home to bottom club Fulham. The Nigeria international led the hosts’ push for an equaliser in the second half and created Matej Vydra’s 86th-minute equaliser after a powerful run down the right flank.

MAROUANE CHAMAKH (Crystal Palace)
Moroccan striker Chamakh unwittingly helped Manchester United on their way in a 2-0 victory over his side at Selhurst Park. Palace had kept United at bay for an hour before Chamakh was penalised for tripping Patrice Evra inside the hosts’ area, with Robin van Persie breaking the deadlock from the resulting penalty.

SPAIN

SOFIANE FEGHOULI (Valencia)
Algeria midfielder Feghouli set up Paco Alcacer’s equaliser as Valencia came from behind to beat Granada 2-1 at Mestalla. Ruben Vezo got the winner in stoppage time as ‘Los Che’ extended their unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions.
ALEX SONG (Barcelona)
Song endured a nightmare evening, scoring an own goal as Barcelona lost 3-1 at Real Sociedad. The Cameroonian was deployed in an unusual position in central defence by Barca boss Gerardo Martino and looked far from comfortable before being replaced by Cesc Fabregas after an hour.

ITALY

SULLEY MUNTARI (AC Milan)
Muntari missed the first leg of Milan’s Champions League last-16 tie against Atletico Madrid in midweek due to suspension and after starting in the centre of the Rossoneri midfield in a 2-0 win at Sampdoria, the Ghanaian lasted just over an hour, being replaced with compatriot Michael Essien immediately after receiving a caution.

KWADWO ASAMOAH (Juventus)
Asamoah played a direct role in the champions’ 1-0 win over Torino, the Ghanaian’s pass from the left of the area setting up Carlos Tevez for a 30th-minute strike which settled matters.

GERVINHO (Roma)
Opposition defences must think twice about how to handle Gervinho and although the Ivorian striker failed to hit the net at home to Bologna, his pace and ball-carrying meant he was a constant threat for Rudi Garcia’s title challengers, who claimed a precious 1-0 win to finish the weekend nine points adrift of Juventus with a game in hand.

GERMANY

DOMINICK KUMBELA (Eintracht Braunschweig)
The Democratic Republic of Congo-born striker captained Eintracht Braunschweig to their 2-1 defeat against 10-man Nuremberg, scoring their only goal, but had a first-half penalty saved. Having scored a hat-trick the week before in the 4-2 drubbing of Hamburg, Kumbela headed his fourth goal in two games to give bottom side Braunschweig the lead at the break.

ARTHUR BOKA (VfB Stuttgart)
The Ivory Coast midfielder scored his first goal of the season to equalize in a 2-1 loss to Hertha Berlin — leaving Stuttgart with a club record seven consecutive league defeats. The 30-year-old blasted home his shot from 18 metres out right on the stroke of half-time.

FRANCE

PRINCE ONIANGUE (Reims)
The Parisian-born Congolese midfielder scored both second-half goals for Reims which appeared to have sealed a share of the points at Monaco until the Principality side nabbed a 3-2 win deep in injury time.

MUSTAPHA YATABARE (Guingamp)
The Mali striker, who has played in two Africa Cup of Nations, struck in the fourth minute of injury time to earn his side a last-gasp 1-0 win over Nice and move them seven points clear of the relegation zone.

FETHI HAREK (Bastia)
The Algerian defender made a late impact on his Corsican club’s game against high-flying Saint Etienne. The visitors were already 1-0 up when Harek’s own goal doubled the deficit in the final minute.

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