England: Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Senegal’s Sadio Mane stole the headlines over the weekend after helping Liverpool end the unbeaten run of Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Salah’s assist set up Mane to double Liverpool’s lead by 3-1 in the 61st minute before adding his name on the score sheet in the 68th minute.
Mali’s Bakary Sako was the lone goal scorer as Crystal Palace earned all three points against Burnley. Ghana’s Jordan Ayew was also the lone goal scorer for Swansea City, but the Ghanaian’s lone goal was later cancelled by Newcastle’s Joselu who leveled the score 1-1.
In Spain, it was a historical moment for Kenya’s Michael Olunga who is on loan from Chinese club Zhicheng. Olunga became the first Kenyan to score a hat trick in the Spanish La Liga as Girona thrashed Las Palmas 6-0.
Congo DR’s Cedric Bakambu was absent from Villarreal’s lineup that nailed Real Madrid 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey and Senegal’s Papa Diop both featured for Atletico Madrid and Eibar respectively on Saturday. Atletico saw off Eibar 1-0.
Over now to Germany where the Bundesliga returned after the festive season break, it was a tough moment for African players struggling to register their names on the score sheet save for Guinea’s Naby Keita. He returned to the score sheet since December 6, 2017 and scored the first goal in RB Leipzig’s 3-1 victory against Schalke 04.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was left out of Borussia Dortmund’s squad for the second time during the weekend for “disciplinary reasons”.
In France, Ivory Coast’s 22-year-old striker Nicolas Pepe was the hero for FC Lille as his lone goal became the only goal of their match against Caen.
Senegalese defender Papiss Djilobodji ended his weekend on a frustrating note after he was red carded in the 90+3 minutes as his team’s Dijon settled for a 1-1 draw against Metz.
Eight African players, Abdul Adénon (Benin), Issa Cissokho (Senegal), Bongani Zungu (South Africa), Serge Gakpé (Togo), Moussa Konaté (Senegal), Congo DR’s duo Gaël Kakuta and Harisson Manzala and Cameroon’s Adolphe Massouma were all part of Amiens SC’s match over the weekend, but were unable to secure a point. They lost 1-0 to Nice.
Senegal’s Assane El Hadji came off the bench to help Saint-Etienne edge out Toulouse 2-0. He doubled the team’s lead in the 86th minute, his first career goal.
At the Groupama Stadium, Cameroon’s Karl Ekambi made it three league goals out of his last two games. He scored Angers SCO’s lone goal in their 1-1 draw against Olympique Lyonnais.
Featured Photo: Getty Images
