Senegal’s Papis Demba Cisse is our player of the weekend having poked the net twice and could have gotten a hat-trick had the referee not flagged his third goal.
However, we begin our round of Africans abroad with the English Premier League where Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang inspired Arsenal to collect all points in their 2-1 hard earned win past Bournemouth.
Over to the American Express Community Stadium, Nigerian pair Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho came off the bench for Leicester City while the likes of Cameroon’s Gaetan Bongo Songo, Yves Bissouma of Mali and Leon-Anderemi Balagoun watched on without minutes in the 1-1 stalemate with Brighton and Hove Albion.
Idrissa Gana Gueye featured for Everton in their win over Gabon Ecueele Manga’s Cardiff City, also on the same day.
Midfield powerhouse Jean Micheal Seri of Ivory Coast was, as usual, a regular for Fulham as they scrapped past Southampton 3-2 in a five-goal-thriller.
It was an all involvement affair for African quartet Jordan Ayew, Schlupp –both Ghanaians –Cheikou Kouyate and Wilfred Zaha as Crystal Palace tied Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United at home –the Red Devils’ third draw in thirteen Premier League games.
Over to the Vicarage Road, Nigeria’s Isaac Success was on the losing side as Mo Salah-inspired Liverpool inflicted damage on Watford, spanking them for three unanswered goals in a game that had Guinea’s Naby Keita rested on the bench.
At the London Stadium, Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez was considered only good in the second-half by Guardiola in leaders City’s walloping of West Ham United.
Ivory Coast’s Serge Aurirer got in the fray of things for the game’s entirety as Spurs shocked Chelsea 3-1, leapfrogging the Blues to the third-place.
German Bundesliga
DR Congo’s Chadrac Aloko was accorded some minutes under his belt while Ghana’s Hans Nunoo Sarpei played no part as Stuttgart endured a 2-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen.
Salomon Kalu is on a stretch of four games without a goal after pulling yet another blank in front of the post in Hertha BSC Berlin’s 3-3 tie with Hoffenheim.
Compatriot Jean-Phillipe Gbamin and Indomitable Lions’ Pierre-Kunde Malong both impotently watched Mainz humbled by table-topping Dortmund.
Salif Sane, Algeria’s Nabil Bentaleb and Schalke 04 had a relief from heartbreak, managing to win 5-2 against Numberg in a battle of relegation-threatened outfits.
Italian Serie A
Ex-Le Mans and Gunners’ winger Gervinho on Sunday poked in his fifth goal of the ongoing term in the Serie A in Parma’s 2-1 swaggering over Sassulo. Senegal’s Khouma Babacar scored the losing side’s consolation goal.
Elephant man Sekou Fofana made it a straight 13 starts in 13 Serie A games for Udinese as they triumphed 1-0 past AS Roma.
In Turin, Senegal’s Alfred Benjamin Gomis was in action but the 25-year-old net-minder couldn’t stop leaders Juventus in a duel Ronaldo and Mandzukic combined to shoot down SPAL.
Fresh from the saga that saw Inter Milan’s administrative howler cost him Senegal’s final qualifier against Equatorial Guinea, Keita Diao Balde was back donning his scoring boots after going 13 outings without a goal.
Balde rifled in the opener after just ten minutes ticked before teammate Lautora Martinez doubled the advantage and the former Barcelona man rounding up matters with the game’s third, eight minutes from stoppage time.
Spain’s La Liga
In the tie featuring Leganes vs Deportivo Alaves, Morocco’s Youssef En-Nesyn was the difference-maker. The 21-year-old latched in the winner barely four minutes to the break. Still in the Laliga, DR Congo’s Gilbert Ganeilli Imbula Warga formed part of the Rayo Vallecano side that bit the dust to mid-table occupants Valencia 3-0.
Ghana’s Emmanuel Boateng was the go-to-guy. The 23-year-old attacker was thrown in the fray with 20 minutes from time but made most of it, scoring four minutes after coming on in the 2-2 tie with Huesca. His countryman Thomas Partey watched on from the bench in the derby between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in a top-of-the-table duel that wrapped up 1-1.
French Ligue1
Burkina Faso’s Bertrand Traore provided warmth to the bench until the 73rd minute when he replaced the tired legs of Manchester United’s outcast Memphis Depay as second-placed Olympique de Lyon labored past St Etienne at the Groumpama Stadium on Friday.
A similar thing occurred with Cameroon’s Choupo-Moting as PSG extended their 14-game unbeaten run, sending Guinea Issaga Sylla’s Toulouse packing in a 1-0 affair.
Faycal Fajir and Caen got beat up by a free-falling Monaco in a relief for gaffer Thierry Henry.
Cameroon’s Stephane Bahoken slammed in the opener in the fifth minute before Ghana’s Abdul Majeed Waris equalized late on in Nantes 1-1 encounter with Angers.
30-year-old Ivory Coast international Herve Lybohy was the match-winner for Nimes in the 1-0 win over Strasbourg.
Zakaria Labyad (Tunisia), Paniel Kokou Mpala (Togo), Oussamam Idris (Morocco) and Algeria’s Oussama Darfolou all found back of the net for their respective sides in the Eredivisie.
Turkish Super Lig
Senegal’s Papis Demba Cisse is on fire for Alanyaspor. The 33-year-old is pushing to force himself into Taranga Lions’ gaffer Aliou Cisse’s thinking as AFCON beckons. The ex-Newcastle star watched on as Senegal starred in the World Cup before dramatically exiting the events in Russia and is of the belief the West African outfit could make an upset by winning the gong in Yaounde.
And hoping he plays a part in that audacious quest, the striker left the cash-loaded Chinese Super Lig for Turkey where he’s banging goals for fun. His incredible scoring statistics are impressive. He netted a brace over the weekend and could have gotten a third to complete a hat-trick in Alanyaspor’s 5-0 marauding of Kayserispor. The brace sends his tally for the season soaring to five in seven games.
Belgian First Division A
Paul Jose Mpoku is on four goals in the last 11 outings for former domestic league champions Standard Liege. The DR Congo man smacked in a brace –the first in the 39th minute and the second in the 79th –as they sashayed over AS Eupen coached by former Chelsea defensive midfielder Claude Makelele.
Togo’s Serge Gakpe grabbed his first goal of the season, netting the winner in Cercle Brugge’s humbling of Genk.
