Ighalo reaches Club World Cup semifinal; Iheanacho, Olayinka, Nnadozie brilliant in wins

Here is Soccernet.ng’s highlight of the involvement of a few Nigerian stars who impressed for their clubs in Europe and beyond.

In the English Premier League, Alex Iwobi created three goalscoring chances as struggling Everton shocked leaders Arsenal with a 1-0 win at Goodison Park to hand manager Sean Dyche a memorable debut in the dugout.

Onuachu made his EPL debut from the bench and impressed, getting a shot on target but Southampton were carved apart 3-0 by home team, Brentford.

At Villa Park, Kelechi Iheanacho ran the show with one goal and two assists to help Leicester City ran out 4-2 winners over Aston Villa.

It was the Foxes’ first league win of the year 2023 and Iheanacho’s first league goal since September when he was last in LCFC starting lineup.

Chuba Akpom continued his excellent form as he netted a brace in Middlesbrough’s convincing 3-0 win over Blackpool.

In Spain, Super Falcons forward, Gift Monday made a huge impact as she claimed the assist to the winning in Granadilla Tenerife’s narrow 1-0 victory at Athletic Club.

It was not the best of days for Nigerian stars in the Italian Serie A.

Cyriel Dessers featured while David Okereke was benched as Cremonese’s stinking run continued after falling to a 2-0 home loss to Lecce.

AS Roma forced a 2-0 defeat down the throat of Tyronne Ebuehi and Empoli while Ademola Lookman played the first 45 minutes as nine-man Atalanta lost 1-0 at Sassuolo.

Ighalo, Nnadozie, Olayinka

In the FIFA Club World Cup, Odion Ighalo and Al Hilal are through to the semifinals after edging out CAF Champions League winners Wydad Casablanca on penalties.

In France, Super Falcons goalkeeper, Chiamaka Nnadozie made several fine saves to inspire Paris FC to a 2-0 triumph over visiting Dijon.

Nigerian youngster Muhamed Tijani came off the bench to provide an assist as Banik Ostrava handed a 5-0 thrashing to Teplice in the Czech Fortuna Liga.

Also in the Czech top flight, Super Eagles winger Peter Olayinka scored Slavia Prague’s second goal in their 2-0 victory over Pardubice.