African players in Europe review – Wilfried Bony scored his eighth goal in 10 games for Swansea, while in France Fallou Diagne (Rennes) and Ismael Diomande (Saint Etienne) saw red in Ligue 1.
ENGLAND
WILFRIED BONY (Swansea City)
Bony scored his eighth goal in 10 games as Swansea lost 2-1 at home to Tottenham Hotspur. The Ivorian striker struck early in the second half, cancelling out Harry Kane’s fourth-minute opener by stabbing home at the second attempt from Wayne Routledge’s cross. But Spurs playmaker Christian Eriksen had the last laugh with an 89th-minute winner.
STEPHANE SESSEGNON (West Bromwich Albion)
Sessegnon was one of West Brom’s stand-out performers as Alan Irvine’s side ended a run of five games without victory by beating Midlands rivals Aston Villa 1-0. It was for a tackle on the Benin midfielder that Villa’s Kieran Richardson was shown a first-half red card and Sessegnon also had a hand in Craig Gardner’s 72nd-minute winner with a shot that inadvertently struck Nigerian team-mate Brown Ideye.
JOHN MIKEL OBI (Chelsea)
Deputising for the suspended Cesc Fabregas, Nigeria international Mikel produced a characteristically watchful display as Chelsea beat Hull City 2-0 to preserve their three-point advantage at the head of the table.
The 27-year-old played a contentious role in Chelsea’s seventh-minute opener, dispossessing Sone Aluko with what Hull felt was an illegal challenge at the start of a move that culminated in Oscar crossing for Eden Hazard to head home.
VICTOR WANYAMA (Southampton)
Kenya international Wanyama squandered a late chance to earn Southampton a point as his side lost 1-0 at Burnley — their fourth defeat in succession. There were seconds left in injury time at Turf Moor when Southampton substitute James Ward-Prowse sent a cross into the Burnley area, but Wanyama put his header narrowly over the crossbar.
YANNICK BOLASIE (Crystal Palace)
Democratic Republic of Congo winger Bolasie continued his impressive recent form by creating the opening goal in Palace’s 1-1 draw at home to Stoke City. The 25-year-old cut in from the left flank in the 11th minute before curling in a right-foot cross that James McArthur converted with a looping header. It was his fifth assist of the campaign.
ITALY
Gervinho (Roma)
Days after the disappointment of their Champions League exit, Roma beat high-flying but 10-man Genoa 1-0 away to reduce the gap on leaders Juventus to a point, and Gervinho was his usual busy self. The Ivorian set up Adem Ljajic early on, only for the Serbian to waste the chance then saw two chances blocked by, first, Mattia Perin, then Eugenio Lamanna after the latter saw red on the half hour. Gervinho really should have doubled Roma’s lead late in the second half but fired wide while on a one-on-one with Lamanna.
Mounir El Hamdaoui (Fiorentina)
Fiorentina were already leading 3-1 away to Cesena when El Hamdaoui came off the bench to replace early goalscorer Borja Valero, but that did not stop the Dutch-born Moroccan international from hitting La Viola’s fourth in the third minute of injury-time on what was his first appearance of the season. El Hamdaoui merely had to tap in under the bar after ‘keeper Nicola Leali could only palm away a Mati Fernandez strike.
GERMANY
MEDHI BENATIA (Bayern Munich)
Morocco defender Benatia scored his first goal for Bayern Munich in their 4-0 thrashing of Augsburg as Pep Guardiola’s Bavarian giants finished the weekend nine points clear.
After a goalless first-half, centre-back Benatia put his side ahead on 58 minutes when he headed home a Franck Ribery cross.
Netherlands winger Arjen Robben grabbed two superb goals while Poland striker Robert Lewandowski also got on the scoresheet as Bayern picked up their 12th win in 15 games.
ANTHONY UJAH (Cologne)
Nigeria striker Ujah scored his fourth goal in five league games just after the break before midfielder Matthias Lehmann netted a penalty in Cologne’s 2-1 win at Schalke 04.
Ujah struck when he capitalised on a mistake by Schalke 04 defender Benedikt Hoewedes and converted Cologne’s first chance of the game.
Teenage replacement Leroy Sane scored his first goal for Schalke by way of consolation on only the 18-year-old’s fourth league appearance as the Royal Blues dropped to sixth while Cologne climbed to tenth.
SPAIN
Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia)
Algeria international Feghouli scored his first goals in over three months as he inspired Valencia to a 3-0 win over Rayo Vallecano with a double to end Los Che’s four-game winless streak. Feghouli opened the scoring with a fine near post header from Antonio Barragan’s cross before doubling the hosts’ lead from close range after Cristian Alvarez failed to hold Alvaro Negredo’s header.
Youssef El-Arabi (Granada)
Moroccan forward El-Arabi grabbed his third goal of the season when he turned home Piti’s low cross from close range away to Espanyol on Sunday, but he couldn’t prevent Granada slipping to another defeat as they edge ever closer to the relegation zone with a 2-1 reverse at Cornella-El Prat.
FRANCE
Fallou Diagne (Rennes)
Senegalese defender Fallou Diagne was given his marching orders in the 26th minute for a foul on Bastia’s Belgian international Guillaume Gillet.
The 25-year-old’s departure was felt as Rennes fell 2-0 to the Corsican outfit with a first half stoppage time goal from Ryad Boudebouz and Yannick Cahuzac’s effort nine minutes from time.
Ismael Diomande (Saint Etienne)
Saint Etienne coach Christophe Galtier was left with a bitter taste after a 0-0 stalemate with Nice saw his Ivory Coast midfielder Ismael Diomande sent off for a second yellow after a clash with Nice’s Carlos Eduardo, who was also given a straight red for his studs in the face challenge
VANGUARD
Sayelba Times 