Nigerians on target in top european leagues

Nigerians Shola Ameobi and Peter Odemwingie scored in big English Premier League victories for Newcastle United and Stoke City respectively at the weekend.
Ameobi grabbed his second goal in three matches as the Magpies defeated Cardiff City 3-0 and Odemwingie broke the deadlock in a 4-1 triumph over Fulham.
Ramon Azeez was another Nigerian on target, snatching a stoppage-time winner for relegation-threatened Spanish La Liga side Almeria.

ENGLAND

YAYA TOURE (Manchester City)
Produced another impressive display during the 3-2 win over Everton in a season where he has been driving City towards the Premier League title. The Ivory Coast midfielder set up Sergio Aguero for City’s equaliser at Goodison Park and was majestic until taken off as a precaution in the 66th minute.

SHOLA AMEOBI (Newcastle)
The 32-year-old Nigeria striker, a longtime fans’ favourite at St James’ Park, opened the scoring in a 3-0 win at home to Cardiff that, combined with other results, saw the Welsh club relegated. He grabbed his second goal in three matches by heading home Moussa Sissoko’s 18th-minute cross.

PETER ODEMWINGIE (Stoke)
Ameobi’s fellow Nigeria international also opened the scoring, putting Stoke in front in the 39th minute in a 4-1 victory over Fulham that relegated the London club from the top flight. He was quickest to react when Stephen Ireland’s shot came back off the crossbar and also set up Stoke’s second goal for Marko Arnautovic.

OUSSAMA ASSAIDI (Stoke)
The Moroccan winger turned in a man-of-the-match performance against Fulham, scoring his fourth goal in his 19th league outing when he tapped in from Arnautovic’s cross.

DEMBA BA (Chelsea)
The Senegalese striker endured a disappointing match, in common with his team-mates as Chelsea’s title challenge all but evaporated with a goalless draw against relegation-threatened Norwich.

SPAIN

PAPE DIOP (Levante)
Senegalese midfielder Diop was at the centre of another racism scandal in Spanish football as Atletico Madrid fans aimed monkey chants at him towards the end of Levante’s 2-0 win over Los Rojiblancos. Diop responded to the gestures by dancing in front of the visiting fans and said he has received similar taunts in grounds all over Spain.

RAMON AZEEZ (Almeria)
Nigerian midfielder Azeez scored just his second goal of the season in injury time to seal a vital 3-2 win for Almeria over already-relegated Real Betis. The Andalusians came from 2-1 down with 10 men to move out of the relegation zone with two games to go.

SOFIANE FEGHOULI (Valencia)
Algeria midfielder Feghouli helped create his side’s second goal, scored by Dani Parejo, as Valencia contributed to a fascinating title race by holding Real Madrid 2-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

ITALY

SULLEY MUNTARI (AC Milan)
Muntari replaced Andrea Poli in a 1-0 derby win over Inter and, with less than 20 minutes remaining, had little to do except protect a 65th-minute lead offered by Nigel De Jong’s powerful header. Milan claimed a first derby win since April 2011, since when Inter notched up five on the trot.

GERVINHO (AS Roma)
Gervinho spurned several chances to help salvage something for Roma in a shock 4-1 defeat at Catania. Mariano Izco hit a brace inside 34 minutes and although Francesco Totti reduced arrears, Roma were stung by further goals from Gonzalo Bergessio and Pablo Barrientos. The reverse handed Juventus the title and Ivorian striker Gervinho, and Roma, will look to do better at home to the champions this week.

FAOUZI GHOULAM (Napoli)
Ghoulam didn’t have to wait long to claim his first piece of silverware in Italy, the Algeria left-back playing a key role in Napoli’s 3-1 defeat of Fiorentina in a violence-marred Cup final in Roma barely five months after joining from Saint-Etienne. Ghoulam was full of pace and ideas when attacking, linking well with Lorenzo Insigne as the Napoli forward bagged a brace. In defence, Ghoulam had plenty to keep him busy in the shape of lively striker Josip Ilicic.

FRANCE

MUSTAPHA YATABARE (Guingamp)
Mali striker Yatabare scored the second goal that lifted Guingamp to the French Cup title with a 2-0 win over fellow Brittany side Rennes at Stade de France. Yatabare slipped through the defence to shock Rennes goalkeeper Benoit Costil with a close-range header for his eighth goal, which put him top of the goalscorers in the competition.

JORDAN AYEW (Sochaux)
The 22-year-old Ghana striker played a pivotal role and scored the second goal in his side’s 2-0 win over Nice which boosted the Ligue 1 survival prospects of Herve Renard’s side.

CEDRIC MONGONGU (Evian)
Evian fell 1-0 at Reims with their Democratic Republic of Congo defender missing a crucial penalty. The loss left fourth-from-bottom Evian fighting for their Ligue 1 lives with two games remaining.

GERMANY

ERIC CHOUPO-MOTING (Mainz 05)
The 25-year-old Cameroon forward scored his 10th league goal of the season as Mainz lost 3-1 at Borussia Moenchengladbach to leave them seventh in the Bundesliga. The left winger headed into the top right-hand corner on 65 minutes before Christoph Kramer settled the matter with the hosts’ third.

RUSSIA

SEYDOU DOUMBIA (CSKA Moscow)
Leading league scorer Doumbia raised his tally to 17 goals by scoring eight minutes from time to clinch a 3-1 win for CSKA at Amkar Perm. The Ivorian earlier had a goal disallowed for handling the ball, which resulted in a yellow card.

MOHAMMED RABIU (Kuban Krasnodar)
The Ghanaian midfielder came off the bench to score his first Russian league goal and complete a 4-0 rout of visiting Samara.

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