PARIS, France, Jan 30 – FA Cup goal specialist Kelechi Iheanacho came off the bench to score and send Leicester City into the fifth round at the weekend with a 1-0 away win over fourth-tier Walsall.
He has 17 goals in 23 FA Cup appearances for Leicester and Manchester City. No player has scored more in the competition than the Nigerian since making his 2016 debut.
Here, AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers across Europe:
ENGLAND
KELECHI IHEANACHO (Leicester)
After Youri Tielemans missed a penalty for Leicester, Iheanacho struck from the edge of the box on 68 minutes with a deflected shot that looped over Owen Evans.
The Nigerian was denied a second goal when his point-blank shot was blocked by the goalkeeper.
AMADOU SALIF MBENGUE (Reading)
Senegalese Mbengue was on the losing side as Reading fell 3-1 at Manchester United. But he did get a moment to savour from his trip to Old Trafford by heading in a late consolation goal.
SPAIN
YOUSSEF EN-NESYRI (Sevilla)
The Morocco international’s brace helped Sevilla move away from danger in La Liga with a 3-0 win over Elche. En-Nesyri opened the scoring with a towering header, then netted the third shortly before the break with a tidy first-time finish.
THEO BONGONDA (Cadiz)
A clever sliding finish from the Democratic Republic of Congo international helped Cadiz take the lead in a 2-0 win over Real Mallorca. Bongonda broke the deadlock after 10 minutes to set Cadiz up for only their fourth victory of the season.
ITALY
VICTOR OSIMHEN (Napoli)
The Nigerian scored one of the goals of the season to take his Serie A tally to 14 and help Napoli beat Roma 2-1 and extend their lead at the top to 13 points. He opened the scoring in the 17th minute by brilliantly chesting down a cross, taking another touch with his thigh before lashing home without the ball touching the ground.
ADEMOLA LOOKMAN (Atalanta)
Only two goals behind unstoppable Osimhen, fellow Nigerian Lookman continued his dream debut season in Serie A when he netted the second in Atalanta’s 2-0 win over struggling Sampdoria.
He doubled the hosts’ lead in the 57th minute, nutmegging Nicola Murru before speeding towards goal and rifling home a low strike.
GERMANY
SEBASTIEN HALLER (Borussia Dortmund)
Ivory Coast international Haller was named in the starting line-up for the first time since undergoing testicular cancer treatment and helped Borussia win 2-0 at Bayer Leverkusen. His constant movement troubled the home side and he was involved in both goals.
FRANCE
TEREM MOFFI (Lorient)
Only Kylian Mbappe has scored more goals in Ligue 1 this season than Moffi. That has led to rivals showing an interest in Lorient’s Nigerian striker in the January transfer window with Nice favourites to secure his signature despite Lorient reportedly wanting 30 million euros ($32.6 mn) to part with the 23-year-old.
Amid the transfer talk, Moffi played no part in Lorient’s 2-1 derby win over Rennes and may have already played his last game for the club.
EMMANUEL AGBADOU (Reims)
The 25-year-old Ivory Coast international centre-back was outstanding as an excellent Reims team held Paris Saint-Germain to a 1-1 draw to extend their unbeaten run to 14 matches.
Agbadou has played in Tunisia but moved to Reims ahead of this season from Belgian club Eupen.
