Nigerian Players Score Card In European Leagues

Absolute Hearts brings to you the round up of Nigeria players playing in the respective leagues in Europe, Ideye, Musa, Ighalo and a host of others got the bulls eyes for their respective teams, here's a low down of Nigerian players who featured for their respective teams and those who were left on the bench.

 Let's start with Germany, Super Eagles defender, Leon Balogun, was in action for Mainz 05 as they defeated his former club Darmstadt 3-2 away in their Bundesliga clash on Friday night. He was introduced in the eighty third minute for Yoshinori Muto with seven minutes left on the clock.

In France, Lille, without Vincent Enyeama who recently lost his mother and was in Nigeria to bury his mother, the funeral was held on Saturday, 3rd October. His team, Lille didn't miss his services much as they relied on Mike Maignan between the sticks; they secured a 2-0 home win against Montpellier with Sofiane Boufal and Djibril Sidibe the goalscorers for Lille.

Nigerian striker, Joseph Akpala was not in the starting lineup as his team KV Oostende faced Lokeren, as he replaced Gohi Bi Cyriac in the 78th minute, his team won 2-0.  

In the Swedish league, former junior international, John Owoeri, saw 90minutes of action as his team Aatvidaberg were beaten 3-0 at home by their visitors Hammarby, meanwhile In Germany, Anthony Ujah has failed to increase his tally more than two, Anthony Ujah failed to score in his fourth consecutive Bundesliga game for Werder Bremen as they lost 1-0 to Hannover 96.

Odemwingie wasn't dressed as his team Stoke City won 1-0 away against Aston Villa. It was the third straight consecutive win for the coach Mark Hughes at the Villa Park. In the Championship, Sammy Ameobi was brought in to replace Kewnywe Jones in the 58th minute of Cardiff City’s 1-1 draw against Brighton & Hove.

In the Premiership, Odion Ighalo scored his fifth Premier League goal of the season for Watford who forced Bournemouth to a 1-1 draw on Saturday. Ighalo, with 21 goals, remains the highest scoring player in all top four tiers of English football in year 2015.

Manchester City teen star Kelechi Iheanacho didn't get the nod in to start against Newcastle but he came in to replace David Silva in the 65th minute, it was his third substitute appearance for Manchester City this season. At the stadium of Light, Victor Moses played for 58 minutes in West Ham’s 2-2 draw away at Sunderland. It was his fourth appearance for the Hammers, scoring once in their win against table toppers Manchester City.

In the lunch time kick-off clash at Selhurst Park, Victor Anichebe was an unused substitute in West Brom’s 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace. He has made only seen 16 minutes of action this season which came in the defeat to Manchester City. Anichebe has made two appearances so far this term. He is yet to score a goal indeed, the Nigerian hasn’t scored for the Black Country club since January 24, when he bagged a double against local rivals Birmingham City in the FA Cup.

 For Hull City, the duo of Sone Aluko and Chuba Akpom were second-half substitutes for the Tigers who defeated Nottingham Forest by a lone goal. Wolverhampton Wanderers undoubtably has a large collection of Nigeria players, Dominic Iorfa, Carl Ikeme, Bright Enobakhare and Oluwaseyi Ojo, Wolverhampton faced Huddersfield Town on Saturday with Iorfa and Ojo, starting, only Right back Iorfa finshed the game as Ojo was substituted in the 61st minute by Nathan Bryne. Their first choice keeper Carl and Bright were left on the bench for the entirety of the match.

Nigerian striker, Brown Ideye, opened his goal account on Sunday for Olympiacos in their 2-0 away win against PAOK Thessaloniki in the Greek Super League. Ideye scored in the 27th minute to put his side a goal up. He was later replaced by Alfred Finnbogason on 68 minutes.

Still in Greece, former junior international Macauley Chrisantus was the hero for AEK Athens, as he scored his first goal in their 1-0 win against Atromitos. Chrisantus scored three minutes after coming on for Ronald Vargas in the 79th minute.

In Russia, Ahmed Musa continued his goal scoring form for CSKA Moscow as his 77th minute strike sealed a 2-0 win against Dinamo Moscow. The goal was Musa’s sixth in 11 appearances for CSKA this season.

Former Midjylland forward, Sylvester Igboun, was instrumental in UFA’s 1-1 draw against Krasnodar at home, as he provided the assist for goal scored by Semyon Fomin. Igboun has scored two goals in nine outings for UFA.

In Norway, Eagles defender, William Troost-Ekong, was in action for Haugesund as he played all 90 minutes but couldn’t prevent them from losing 2-1 at home to Odd. Godfrey Oboabona was in action in the Turkish league, he played the entire duration of his team loss to Bursaspor. His team Rizespor went down by 3-2 at home.

Super Eagles Invitee Michael Olaitan, featured for FC Twente but could not save his team, as they lost 3-1 to AZ Alkmaar in their Eredivisie clash.  

Also in the Dutch league , Nigerian striker, Abiola Dauda, was on target for Vitesse as they thrashed Groningen 5-0. Dauda was introduced for Chelsea on-loan player, Dominic Solanke, who was also on target.

In Serie A, Ogenyi Onazi was not dressed as his team Lazio, defeated newcomers Frosinone

By two goals to nil. Onazi has only featured once for Lazio this current campaign.

Super Eagles winger, Moses Simon continued his barren run, as he was on for 90 minutes for his Gent as they defeated Club Brugge 4-1. He's yet to score after 10games.

One-cap Super Eagles forward, Imoh Ezekiel, was replaced by Matias Suarez in the 65th minute, as Anderlecht played out a 1-1 draw against Mechelen.

Also in the Belgian league, Nigerian player, Wilfred Ndidi, was on for 82 minutes in Genk’s 3-1 win against Standard Liege. Ndidi was replaced by Byram Heynen.