Nigerian footballers experienced mixed fortunes across European leagues over the weekend, with Maduka Okoye and Chiamaka Nnadozie suffering defeats despite conceding three goals each. Meanwhile, Rafiu Durosinmi continued his scoring form for Genk, while Tochukwu Nnadi registered his first assist of the season for Marseille. Alex Iwobi and Akor Adams also found the net, while Victor Osimhen’s impressive run of consecutive league matches with a goal or assist came to an end.
Okoye made eight saves but could not prevent Udinese from losing 3-0 to Lecce in the Italian Serie A. Kialonda Gaspar opened the scoring in the 11th minute before Konan N’Dri doubled the lead in the 33rd minute. Jamil Siebert completed the scoring in the 86th minute, handing Udinese their fifth consecutive league defeat. Despite the result, Okoye received a FotMob rating of 7.0, the highest among Udinese players, after making several important saves.
In France, Nnadi made his first start of the season for Marseille and provided an assist in their 5-2 victory over Angers. The midfielder won possession in the middle of the pitch before delivering a through-ball to Amine Harit, who scored in the 83rd minute. It was Nnadi’s first assist of the campaign and his first since April. In England, Nnadozie conceded three goals as Brighton Women lost 3-2 away to Manchester City in the Women’s Super League. City raced into a three-goal lead through Khadija Shaw, who scored twice, and Niamh Charles before Brighton responded with goals from Olivia Garcia and Caitlin Hayes.
Durosinmi also continued his strong form, scoring in Genk’s 2-0 Belgian Cup victory over Virton to take his season tally to seven goals. Junya Ito provided the assist for the striker, who doubled Genk’s lead in the 28th minute after Daan Heymans had opened the scoring. In England, Iwobi scored the only goal as Fulham defeated Hull City 1-0, securing their first league win of the season. Akor Adams also ended a four-match scoring drought by netting the winner in Venezia’s 1-0 victory over Napoli, while Samuel Adeniran scored in LASK’s 4-0 win against Austria Lustenau.
Osimhen, meanwhile, failed to score or assist for the first time in 19 consecutive league appearances for Galatasaray, although his side secured a 1-0 victory over Gençlerbirliği through a late own goal. The striker had recorded 18 goals and eight assists during his previous 18 league matches. Elsewhere, Samuel Chukwueze featured in AC Milan’s 3-2 win over Atalanta, while Ademola Lookman was substituted at half-time as Atlético Madrid beat Espanyol 1-0. Nigerian players also featured for clubs in Germany, Scotland, the Netherlands, Turkey and other European leagues over the weekend.
