Mixed Blessings: Dessers, Balogun lose Scottish League Cup

Rangers duo Cyriel Dessers and Leon Balogun could have won their first piece of silverware for the season but that wasn’t to be just as other Nigerian players continued their impressive performances abroad. ABIODUN ADEWALE reports

ENGLAND

Onuachu, Aribo (Southampton)

Josh Maja (West Brom)

Maja didn’t score nor assist for two consecutive games and West Brom slipped further in the Championship after a 2-1 defeat at Vicarage Road against Watford. The Nigerian striker was on for 65 minutes but couldn’t add to his 10 goals and two assists so far this season.

Toni Payne (Everton Women)

Super Falcons midfielder, Payne put in a good shift to help Everton earn an impressive home league victory over Manchester City. It was their first win in five games as the Nigerian also made her 10th WSL appearance. She is still in search of her first goal contribution for the club.

SPAIN

Chrisantus Uche (Getafe)

Uche featured off the bench as Getafe fell to a narrow 1-0 away defeat against Atletico de Madrid. The Nigerian played 36 minutes for his 17th appearance of the season. He has scored just one goal this campaign.

SCOTLAND

Dessers, Balogun (Rangers)

Leon Balogun was cautioned and taken off in the second half while Cyriel Dessers started from the bench for Rangers in their fierce League Cup final against Celtic. The Gers title’ defence however failed as they lost 5-4 on penalties following a thrilling 3-3 draw after extra-time.

FRANCE

Moses Simon (Nantes)

Last week’s hero, Simon made an assist but it wasn’t enough as Nantes slipped again in the French Ligue 1 no thanks to a 4-1 defeat at Brest.

Akor Adams (Montpellier)

Former Flying Eagles striker Adams returned to the starting lineup for his 13th Ligue 1 appearance of the season for Montpellier, but his goal drought continued in their 2-2 draw against Nice. The striker who has three goals and one assist this season is yet to score in his last seven games.

CZECH REPUBLIC

Victor Olatunji (Sparta Prague)

Olatunji came off the bench and was the match-winner for third-placed Sparta Prague as they came back from a goal down to beat Jablonec 2-1 in the Czech league on Sunday. Vakhtang Chanturishvili put the visitors up in the 34th minute while Albion Rrahmani levelled matters for Sparta after the break. Olatunji who replaced the injured Rahmani then garbbed the winner with 12 minutes left on the clock. He has six league goals this season.

Igoh Ogbu (Slavia Prague)

Ogbu was in action for league leaders Slavia Prague but they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Teplice. Despite the defeat, they still hold a 10-point gap in the table with 50 points after 19 matches.

BELGIUM

Tolu Arokodare (Genk)

Arokodare missed a penalty in Genk’s 2-0 defeat against champions Club Brugge. The lanky striker could have changed the complexion of their game with the 73rd-minute penalty, with the score at 0-0, but he saw his effort saved. That would later haunt his team who fell to two goals in stoppage time and saw their lead at the top cut to one point. The striker is leading their charge for the tile this season with 10 goals and three assists in 18 games.

Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge)

Midfielder Onyedika played the entire 90 minutes as Club Brugge kept the pressure on leaders Genk with a 2-0 defeat.

CYPRUS

Adebayo Adeleye (Paralimni)

Super Eagles goalkeeper Adeleye made his 13th Cyprus league appearance for Paralimni but he was unable to keep a clean sheet.

Francis Uzoho (Omonia)

After featuring in the Conference League in midweek, Uzoho was dropped to the bench again as Omonia continued their Cyprus League pursuit.

The Netherlands

Chuba Akpom (Ajax)

Apom’s goal drought for Ajax in all competitions entered the 11th game as he fired blanks again, despite starting their win over Almere City.

Serbia

Bamiele Yusuf (Vojvodina)

In-form striker Vodvodina of Serbia striker Yusuf scored his ninth goal of the season in their 3-1 away win over TSC on Sunday. The Nigerian striker scored the second goal of the game in the win which took them back into a championship playoffs position after slipping last week. The 23-year-old has nine goals and two assists in 18 league games this season.

Turkey

Bright Osayi-Samuel (Turkey)

Defender Osayi-Samuel made his ninth league appearance for Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce as they recorded a win over 10-man Basaksehir. It was their first win in three games in all competitions after falling flat against Besiktas last week and Athletic Bilbao at home.

ITALY

Samuel Chukwueze (AC Milan)

Chukwueze got his first Serie A start since the last international break as Milan hosted Genoa. Before the game, the forward had just one goal in 14 appearances.