African players in Europe – Brilliant Bolasie ends goal drought in style

14 April 2015 09:35

Yannick Bolasie atoned for not having scored since last September with a weekend hat-trick as Crystal Palace triumphed 4-1 at Sunderland in the English Premier League
The Democratic Republic of Congo winger wreaked havoc early in the second half at the Stadium of Light, scoring three goals within 11 minutes.
Ghanaian Thomas Partey, on loan to Almeria from Atletico Madrid, was also celebrating after bagging a brace against Granada for his first La Liga goals.

ENGLAND

YANNICK BOLASIE (Crystal Palace)
He ended his goal drought in fine fashion with a hat-trick in a 4-1 win at Sunderland. After Glenn Murray opened the scoring early in the second half, Bolasie hit the back of the net three times in 11 minutes. He raced onto Murray’s flick before slotting the ball home, then chipped a shot over goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon before completing his treble by rounding the keeper and shooting past two defenders on the line.
   

SADIO MANE (Southampton)
The Senegal midfielder was involved in an extraordinary incident at St Mary’s when, with the game goalless. he was about to take a penalty late in the first half against Hull only for Saints manager Ronald Koeman to insist that James Ward-Prowse strike the spot-kick instead. Fortunately for the Saints, Ward-Prowse scored to send them on their way to a 2-0 win and Mane was substituted just after the hour mark.
   

YAYA TOURE (Manchester City)
His performance mirrored City’s display in a 4-2 derby defeat by Manchester United. The Ivory Coast midfielder started strongly at Old Trafford but faded badly as the game wore on, with Michael Carrick making him look foolish with a swish of the hips on the edge of the box. Toure struggled defensively at times, but this was as much due to City being over-run in midfield as it was faults in his own game.
   

CHEIKHOU KOUYATE (West Ham)
One of the Hammers better players in their 1-1 draw with Stoke at Upton Park, the Senegal international producing a committed display in midfield. He let fly with a low shot that needed a good save from Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic in the second half.

SPAIN

MANUCHO, ABDOULAYE BA (Rayo Vallecano)
Angolan striker Manucho headed home his fourth goal of the season inside the first minute of Rayo’s visit to Celta Vigo, but the Galicians stormed back to win 6-1. Senegalese defender Ba was one of those at fault and he was substituted after just 28 minutes as Rayo coach Paco Jemez attempted to halt Celta’s momentum.

THOMAS PARTEY (Almeria)
On-loan Atletico Madrid midfielder Partey scored his first goals in the Spanish top flight as Almeria beat Granada 3-0 in a relegation battle. The Ghanaian tapped home the opener just before half-time and rounded off a fine win for the Andalusians three minutes from time.

NORDIN AMRABAT, CARLOS KAMENI (Malaga)
Cameroonian goalkeeper Kameni made a terrible mistake as he dropped Jesus Gamez’s harmless long throw-in to gift Antoine Griezmann the opener in Malaga’s 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid. Moroccan playmaker Amrabat played his part in bailing out Kameni as he set up Samuel Garcia for Malaga’s second goal.
   

IKECHUKWU UCHE (Villarreal)
Uche scored his eighth goal of the season as Villarreal were held 1-1 at Getafe. The Nigerian opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Diego Castro replied.

ITALY

SAMUEL ETO’O (Sampdoria)
Eto’o was described as a ‘Martian’ after Sampdoria’s 1-1 draw at AC Milan, by which club president Massimo Ferrero meant ‘out of this world’. The Cameroonian shaved the post with an early drive and although he failed to find the net Eto’o was the driving force behind Samp’s opener. After Milan forward Jeremy Menez gave away possession cheaply in midfield, the ball was fed to Eto’o, who nutmegged Philippe Mexes before sending Roberto Soriano clear to beat Diego Lopez.

SEYDOU DOUMBIA (Roma)
Doumbia was left on the bench for Roma’s trip to Torino but replaced Serbian forward Adem Ljajic with 15 minutes remaining as the visitors chased victory, Maxi Lopez having levelled Alessandro Florenzi’s spot-kick for Roma on 57 minutes. The Ivorian had little time to spark the turnaround but came close twice with headers, one of which was charged down by Nikola Maksimovic with the other going just over the bar in the dying minutes.

MOHAMED SALAH (Fiorentina)
Salah has hit four league goals in only eight appearances since his January arrival on loan from Chelsea, but Fiorentina have stumbled recently and the Egyptian forward suffered. Salah started for Vincenzo Montella’s side away to Napoli but despite his best efforts, failed to produce the magic as Napoli, ordered into a training retreat last week, romped to a 3-0 win at the San Paolo.

FRANCE

SERGE AURIER (PSG)
Running up and down the right flank for 90 minutes, the Ivory Coast international dominated his direct opponents. After being involved in Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s second goal, the former Toulouse man provided an assist for Edinson Cavani’s header in Paris Saint-Germain’s 4-0 thrashing of Bastia in the French League Cup final.

SAMBOU YATABARE (Guingamp)
The Mali midfielder, who’s been booked seven times this season, was sent off with a quarter of an hour to go in the Brittany derby, just eight minutes after he had come off the bench. Five minutes later, Rennes’ Ola Toivonen scored the game’s only goal.

GERMANY

SALIF SANE (Hanover 96)
The Senegal defender put in an assist for Hanover’s goal and earned a yellow card in their 1-1 draw at Hertha Berlin, which left them just above the Bundesliga’s relegation places. Sane headed the ball on from a Hanover corner as Christian Schulz fired Hanover into a 75th-minute lead, which lasted just eight minutes. Sane was then booked for a foul on Hertha defender Peter Pekarik, his fifth of the season, meaning he is suspended for Saturday’s game at Bayer Leverkusen.

ANTHONY UJAH (Cologne)
The Nigeria striker netted his 10th goal of the season with some cool finishing as 10-man Cologne beat Hoffenheim 3-2 to pull clear of the relegation zone. Ujah produced great finishing when he converted Japan international Yuya Osako’s defence-splitting pass on 54 minutes.

SEREY DIE (VfB Stuttgart)
Ivory Coast defensive midfielder Die provided a superb pass to allow Daniel Ginczek to score 10-man VfB Stuttgart’s dramatic 91st-minute winner in their 3-2 victory over Werder Bremen. Having been at fault for Bremen’s first goal, 30-year-old Die made amends in the dying stages as Ginzcek scored twice to claim only Stuttgart’s second win since mid December which lifted them off the bottom of the table.

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